ANALYSIS OF ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT LEAF EXTRACTS OF RUTA GRAVEOLENS

Abstract

The interest in the study of natural products has grown steadily worldwide. In Brazil, it has occurred due to the large number of species of flora which are popularly used in alternative medicine cuisine, and even as cosmetics. However, due to big diversity, there are few that have been targets of more systematic studies by the scientific communities. The Ruta Graveolens (rue) is known in various regions of the country by presenting analgesic,antihemorrhagic and soothing activity when ingested tea leaves and abortive when the juice of the leaves is mixed with garlic and cumin plant. The infusion of the leaves is used against menstrual cramps, diarrhea, fever, and syrup from the leaves used against severe coughs. However, few researches have been conducted with a view to analyzing their chemical composition and their antioxidant activity. In this sense, this research was to examine the antioxidant activity of leaf extracts of Ruta Graveolens. The extractions were performed by the methods of infusion of dried leaves and through the extractor lipids with fresh and dried leaves with hexane solvents, alcohol and water. The antioxidant activity was determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl stable free radical (DPPH*) following the method described by Lima (2008). The aqueous extracts achieved better performance compared to extraction with hexane solvents and alcohol and fresh leaves have presented a lower yield than dried leaves. The specie has presented antioxidant activities confirmed through calculations of EC50, the aqueous extract of dried leaf has showed the highest antioxidant activity, inhibiting 78.98% of DPPH* radicals.