COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF PETROLEUM ETHER, ACETONE AND ETHANOL EXTRACTS OF THE AERIAL OF ACANTHOSPERMUM HISPIDUM

Abstract

Acanthospermum hispidum is used ethnomedicinally for the treatment of acute tuberculosis, typhoid, jaundice, diarrhoea, cough, dysentery and pneumonia, uncomplicated malaria and other parasitic infections. A. hispidum has been used widely in traditional medicine for years by Nigerians but with fewer records of the antioxidant activities of its aerial part. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of three solvent extracts of the aerial part of the plant. In this study the aerial part of A. hispidum was extracted with three different solvents (petroleum ether, acetone and ethanol) and were evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant activities. Four methods were used for the evaluation: the Thiobarbituric Acid (TBA), Ferric Thiocyanate (FTC) and reducing power methods and also the direct measurement of DPPH radical scavenging activity. Among the three extracts, the acetone extract had the utmost antioxidant activity as revealed by reducing power assay, greater free radical scavenging activity as shown by the DPPH, and also higher antioxidant activity as indicated by the TBA method.The current study clearly reveals the prospective antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging properties of A. hispidum extracts. This may be as a result of the numerous functional compounds present in the aerial part as shown which may be an important source of natural antioxidant, and might be supportive in checking the progress of several oxidative stresses.
 Acanthospermum hispidum is used ethnomedicinally for the treatment of acute tuberculosis, typhoid, jaundice, diarrhoea, cough, dysentery and pneumonia, uncomplicated malaria and other parasitic infections. A. hispidum has been used widely in traditional medicine for years by Nigerians but with fewer records of the antioxidant activities of its aerial part. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of three solvent extracts of the aerial part of the plant. In this study the aerial part of A. hispidum was extracted with three different solvents (petroleum ether, acetone and ethanol) and were evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant activities. Four methods were used for the evaluation: the Thiobarbituric Acid (TBA), Ferric Thiocyanate (FTC) and reducing power methods and also the direct measurement of DPPH radical scavenging activity. Among the three extracts, the acetone extract had the utmost antioxidant activity as revealed by reducing power assay, greater free radical scavenging activity as shown by the DPPH, and also higher antioxidant activity as indicated by the TBA method.The current study clearly reveals the prospective antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging properties of A. hispidum extracts. This may be as a result of the numerous functional compounds present in the aerial part as shown which may be an important source of natural antioxidant, and might be supportive in checking the progress of several oxidative stresses.