Preparation of Natural Antioxidant Health Supplements from Philippine-Grown Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Natural antioxidants are molecules that prevent cell damage against free radicals and are significant for maintaining optimum health in both animals and human. Insufficient levels of antioxidants, or inhibition of the antioxidant enzymes, cause oxidative stress which contributes to the development of a wide range of diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and neurodegeneration in motor neuron diseases. Due to the importance of natural antioxidants in the prevention of these diseases, this study was therefore undertaken to extract, characterize and evaluate the antioxidant activity of some Philippine-grown medicinal plants for the development of natural antioxidant dietary supplements. The collected plant materials namely Fragaria vesca (strawberry), Solanum melongena (eggplant), Nephelium lappaceum (rambutan), Mangifera indica ( mango), Antidesma bunius (bignay), Basella rubra (alugbati) Garcinia mangostana (mangosteen), Syzygium cumini (duhat), Dioscorea alata (ube), Citrus grandis (suha), Annona muricata (guyabano) and Curcuma longa (turmeric) were extracted using 95% EtOH. The total phenolic content of the plant extracts was tested by Folin-Ciocalteau method. Flavonoid content of the plant was determined by qualitative phytochemical analysis. The study also prepared a natural-based antioxidant dietary supplement product in the form of capsule and chewable tablet that contains a combination of two (2) to three (3) plant materials that exhibited the most promising antioxidant activity. Results suggest that N. lappaceum peels exhibited the highest antioxidant activity with 40.70% total phenolics expressed as gallic acid followed by G. mangostana pericarp at 29.00% and S. cumini fruit at 14.30 %. All the plant samples indicated the presence of flavonoids. An antioxidant dietary supplements in capsule and in chewable tablet were developed using a combination of two (2) to three (3) plant extracts. The formulated products exhibited very promising antioxidant activities. The antioxidant activities exhibited by some Philippine-grown medicinal plants lead to the preparation of a more sustainable and cost effective natural antioxidant dietary supplements. Keywords: Antioxidant; Bate-Smith and Metcalf method; DPPH assay; Folin-Ciocalteau method; Medicinal plants; Phytochemical analysis; Wilstatter “Cyanidin” test