Publication:

Total flavonoid content and antioxidant Activity of Hydnora Abyssinca flower methanol and Aqueous Extracts

Antioxidants a group of compounds that are naturally found in various sources such as plants and are responsible for preventing or reducing the oxidative stress of the body. The body constantly produces free radicals as result of regular use of oxygen. The free radicals cause oxidative damage that may result into cell and tissue death. The oxidative damage contributes to genesis of many health threatening conditions such as diabetes and cancer. Plants are abundant source of these antioxidants which are helpful in preventing the deleterious effect of free radicals. Very few studies on plants have been conducted. The current study aimed at evaluating the total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of methanol and aqueous flower extract of Hydnora abbyssinica. Total flavonoid content was conducted by the aluminum chloride method while the antioxidant activity was conducted by 2.2-diphenyl-2- picryl-hydrazil (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. L-ascorbic acid and catechin were used as the standard antioxidant and flavonoid respectively. The methanol and aqueous extracted recorded total flavonoid content of 7.884±0.025 and 7.940±0.024 mg CE/g dw respectively (p>0.05). The flavonoids were significantly not different from each other. The antioxidant activity results showed methanol extracted recorded significantly higher antioxidant activity between 1000 ug/ml to 10 ug/ml as compared to aqueous extract(P<0.05). Between 1 ug/ml to 0.01 ug/ml no significant difference was noted between methanol and aqueous extract (P>0.05). L-ascorbic acid recorded significantly higher antioxidant activity of 1000 ug/ml to 1 ug/ml (p<0.05) and significantly lower activity between 0.1 ug/ml and 0.01 ug/ml (p>0.05). The methanol and aqueous extract recorded IC 50 values of 4.50 ug/ml and 5.580 ug/ml respectively while L-ascorbic acid recorded IC 50 values of 4.12 ug/ml. in conclusion, Hydnora abbyssinica flower has antioxidant activity.