Antioxidant Activities of <i>Mirabilis jalapa</i> L. Seed Epicarp Extract

Abstract

Mirabilis jalapa L. (Nyctaginaceae) is a traditional specie and widely distributed in most parts of China. Its leaves, roots, seed and flowers are used as drugs pharmacological activity. This is the first report on the biological activity against activities of scavenging free radical and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Mirabilis jalapa L. seed epicarp (MJSE) was immersed with ethanol (or methanol, ethyl acetate, water) in the ultrasonic instrument, then determination of total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of these extracts were performed. Furthermore, antioxidant activities of these extracts were evaluated by using DPPH radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging and FRAP. The TPC, TFC, FRAP and scavenging activities against DPPH and OH radical were in the following order ethyl acetate >ethanol>methanol>water. The TPC of ethyl acetate extract is 4.24 mg GAE /g of dry power weight (DPW), and TFC 0.39 mg RE/ g DPW. ethyl acetate extract exhibit high free radical scavenging rate, IC50 of DPPH and OH assay were 6.62 mg DPW/ml and 3.49 mg DPW/ml, respectively. The TPC values, IC50 obtained from DPPH assay and FRAP assay were highly correlated with correlation of determination (R2 = 0.9878, R2 = 0.9419). The present study confirmed that MJSE has a strong antioxidant activity and can be considered to be safe and an inexpensive source of natural antioxidants and drugs.