ABSTRACT
Phytochemicals possessing phenols and flavonoids are potential sources of antioxidants, which are useful to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS). The present study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the antioxidant potential of pet ether and methanol extracts of fruits of Artocarpus chama Buch., using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging assay, cupric reducing antioxidant capacity, reducing power antioxidant capacity, determination of total phenol and flavonoid contents. Preliminary phytochemical study revealed the presence of alkaloid and flavonoid in both extracts. The fraction showed significant antioxidant activities in the assay compared to the reference ascorbic acid in a dose dependent manner. In DPPH radical scavenging assay, the IC50 value of the crude pet ether and methanol extract was 27.64 μg/mL and 39.08 μg/mL, respectively, whereas IC50 value for the reference ascorbic acid was 12.70 μg/mL. Furthermore, both extracts showed similar cupric reducing power and reducing power capability. In addition, pet ether extract contains higher amount of phenols as compared with methanol extract, and possess similar flavonoid content expressed as Gallic acid and Quercetin, respectively. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that pet ether extract of the fruits of A. chama Buch possesses significant antioxidant potential comparing with methanol extract, which may be attributed to the high amount of phenols and flavonoids present in the extract.