Acta Pharm. 60 (2010) 361-367
Short communication
Antioxidant properties of methanolic extracts of the leaves of seven
Egyptian Cassia species
MAHER MAHMOUD EL-HASHASH, MAHFOUZ MOHAMED ABDEL-GAWAD,
MORTADA MOHAMED EL-SAYED, WAFFA AHMED SABRY, EL-SAYED SALEH ABDEL-HAMEED and
EZZAT EL-SAYED ABDEL-LATEEF
1Chemistry Department,
Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Egypt
2Laboratory of Medicinal
Chemistry, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Warrak El-Hader, Giza, Egypt
Accepted August 1, 2010
In the
present study, antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts of the leaves of
seven Egyptian Cassia species was investigated using two methods, the
phosphomolybdate method and 1,1 diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH•)
scavenging activity method. The results revealed that C. glauca is the
most potent species and that the activity of other plant species decreases in
the following order C. grandis > C. nodosa > C. fistula
> C. didymobtrya > C. occidentalis > C.
sophera.
Defatted methanolic extract of the most active plant C. glauca was subjected to fractionation process using different organic solvents such as CHCl3, EtOAc and BuOH. Antioxidant activities of these fractions were investigated and the results showed that ethyl acetate fraction possessed high activity. Total phenolic and flavonoid concentration of each plant extract were determined using the Folin-Ciocaltu reagent and aluminum chloride. Correlation between radical scavenging capacities of extracts and total phenolic concentration was observed.
Keywords: Cassia species, antioxidant, phenolic, flavonoids, DPPH