Abstract
Hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts from leaves and stem-bark of Rhamnus prinoides were evaluated for their antioxidant activity by DPPH radical scavenging assay. The leaves extracts showed scavenging activity ranging from 03.33±0.89 to 55.03±3.40 µg mL-1 while the stem-bark extracts showed relatively strong scavenging activity ranging from 03.65±1.02 to 59.55±2.27 µg mL-1. The IC50 values of R. prinoides hexane leaves extract (RPHELS), R. prinoides chloroform leaves extract (RPCHLS), R. prinoides ethyl acetate leaves extract (RPEALS), R. prinoides methanolic leaves extract (RPMELS), R. prinoides hexane stem-bark extract (RPHESB), R. prinoides chloroform stem-bark extract (RPCHSB), R. prinoides ethyl acetate stem-bark extract (RPEASB) and R. prinoides methanolic stem-bark extract (RPMESB) were found to be >3000, >3000, >3000, 950.42, ~1500, 710.50, ~1000 and 902.78 µg mL-1, respectively. The positive control ascorbic acid showed an IC50 value of <200 µg mL-1. From this study, we concluded that the extracts from R. prinoides showed promising antioxidant activity. R. prinoides finds therapeutic applications in the traditional medicine. Further research is required to commercialize products from this plant. Key words: Antioxidant, ascorbic acid, Rhamnus prinoides, radical scavenging assay, methanolic extract, chloroform extract, hexane extract, ethyl acetate extract.  
Highlights
Rhamnus prinoides belongs to the Rhamnaceae family (Dale, 2000; Dlamini and Turner, 2002)
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of these extracts by DPPH radical scavenging assay and to determine their IC50 values
The powdered stem-bark (299.530 g) of R. prinoides was extracted first with methanol at room temperature for 3 days followed by a reflux condition for 6 h. 32.2047 g of combined crude methanol extract was obtained after removal of solvent
Summary
Rhamnus prinoides belongs to the Rhamnaceae family (Dale, 2000; Dlamini and Turner, 2002). R. prinoides is known by other names such as African Dogwood, Glossy-leaf and mififi. R. prinoides is widely distributed in East and South African countries (Alemu et al, 2007; Abegaz et al, 1999) which include Ethiopia, Botswana, Eritrea, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda and Kenya (Ashine, 2015). R. prinoides grows up to 4.5-m height and found in evergreen forests, in the wild and along water streams. R. prinoides is a slow growing plant in low rainfall areas, it can grow 1 m per annum in wet areas (Ferede et al, 2018). The leaves begin with pale green and turn to dark and shiny on maturation.
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