Assessment of antioxidant potential of Moringa stenopetala leaf extract

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the antioxidant potential of Moringa stenopetala leaf obtained from a private garden in Bahir Dar City and powdered Moringa leaf purchased from a supermarket in Bahir Dar City by using ferric reducing antioxidant power, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging capacity, peroxide value and conjugated diene hydroperoxide assays. The powdered Moringa stenopetala leaf extract was invariably found to have a higher antioxidant capacity than the purchased Moringa powder. In the conjugated diene hydroperoxide and peroxide value assays, sunflower oil was used as an oxidation substrate. Both peroxide value and conjugated diene concentration for sunflower oil containing extracts of Moringa leaf and purchased Moringa powder were found to be lower than the corresponding values observed for the control showing the effectiveness of the extracts in delaying oxidation of the oil. The total phenolic content, in terms of mg gallic acid equivalent per 100 g of dry weight of sample was found to be 92.8 ±1.01 and 75.5 ± 2.28 for, respectively, powdered leaves of M. stenopetala and  purchased powder of Moringa leaf. The antioxidant capacity of the powdered Moringa stenopetala leaf and purchased Moringa powder were found to be, respectively, 442.0±10.58 and 291.3±15.52 mg of ascorbic acid equivalent per 100 g of dry weight of plant sample in the FRAP assay. The corresponding values for the powdered Moringa stenopetala leaf and purchased Moringa powder in the DPPH assay were found to be, respectively, 144.0±0.53, 138.8±1.05 mg of ascorbic acid equivalent per 100 g of dry weight of the sample. This difference in antioxidant capacity of these two samples can be attributed to differences in their total phenolic content. It is suggested that this antioxidant potential of the leaves of Moringa stenopetala may underlie the widespread use of the plant in traditional medicine.

Key words: Moringa stenopetala, Antioxidant potential, Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl- 1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, Folin-Ciocalteu’s phenol reagent (FCR), Peroxide value (PV).