Abstract

The present study was conducted to assess the antioxidant properties of ethanol, ethyl acetate, methanol and hexane extracts from leaves of Pereskia bleo using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl method  (DPPH assay), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP assay) and β-Carotene-Linoleic acid methods. Total phenolic compounds (TPC) and flavonoids of the leaves of P. bleo were measured using Folin-Ciocalteu and HPLC methods respectively. Results of the present study showed that Ethyl acetate extract of P. bleo leaf exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) higher antioxidant activity as measured using DPPH free radical (IC₅₀), FRAP and β-carotene-linoleic assays than that of hexane extract, methanol extract and ethanol extract. Pereskia bleo leaf was also found to contain high amounts of bioactive compounds including total phenolic compounds (109.43 ±0.84 mg GAE/g), epicatechin (575± 0.04 mg/100 g), quercetin (110.94 ±0.12 mg/100 g), catechin (918 ± 0.01 mg/100 g) and myricetin (9.49±0.55 mg/100g) while the concentrations of α- tocopherol, β-carotene and lycopene were found to be higher (69±0.25, 51.97±1.18 mg/100g, 92.46±0.41 µg/g), respectively.

Key words: Pereskia bleo, antioxidant activity, total phenolic compounds, total flavonoid compounds.