Determination of Antioxidant Potentials of Acacia seyel Stem Bark Extracts

Abstract

Acacia seyel is a plant species distributed throughout most parts of tropical regions of the world and has a number of medicinal uses; antidiabetic, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antiinfalammatory, antiulcer, wound healing, antibacterial, antimalarial and anticarcinogenic properties. This work is to investigate the antioxidant potentials of n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of A. seyel. Air-dried powdered plant material was successively extracted with n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol using soxhlet extractor for 12 hours each. The antioxidant activities of the extracts from the stem bark A. seyel were evaluated using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and phosphomolybdate techniques. The phenolic content of the plant extracts were investigated based on Folin-Ciocaltaeu method. The extracts demonstrate significant antioxidant activity against DPPH radical and phosphomolabdate technique. Mathanol extract showed highest phenolic content. In conclusion, A. seyel extract demonstrate presence of antioxidant compounds with radical scavenging and electron transfer potentials.