Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Tambourissa ficus, a Mauritian Endemic Fruit

Abstract

Until now, the Mauritian endemic fruit Tambourissa ficus of the Monimiaceae family has remained unexplored. The study’s goal was to look into the phytochemical composition and antioxidant properties of different solvent extracts of the fruit. The presence of phenolics, flavonoids, terpenes, coumarins, alkaloids, and tannins was discovered through qualitative screening. The highest total polyphenol content (TPC = 9.78 ± 0.18 mg GAE/g dw) and the highest total flavonoid content (TFC = 8.84 ± 0.07 mg QE/g dw) was observed in ethanolic extract, while the highest total terpenoid content (TTC = 587.9 ± 0.72 mg linalool/g dw) was found in the acetone extract. The antioxidant activity vs. ABTS was the highest (4.71 ± 0.18 mg TE/g dw) in the ethanol extract. All three groups—TPC, TFC, and TTC revealed a moderate correlation with ABTS antioxidant activity, being 0.754, 0.778, and 0.774 on average, respectively. Ultraviolet–visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy spectrophotometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the presence of polyphenolic compounds. Individual noteworthy phytochemicals, including the alkaloids chelidonine, protopine, and brevicarine, which are potential antioxidant compounds, were also discovered in the fruit through liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) screening. The overall antioxidant activity of the fruit can, therefore, be attributed to the synergistic effects of the multiple chemical components in the extracts.