Chiang Mai Journal of Science

Oxidative stress is important cause of pathogenesis of various diseases. Nowadays, antioxidants derived from plants are important substances which have the property to prevent oxidative-related diseases. Thus, we aimed to study phytochemicals and antioxidant efficacy of Artabotrys harmandii Finet & Gagnep. Antioxidant parameters including total antioxidant, 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS·+) radical scavenging activity, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH·) radical scavenging activity, reducing power and anti-lipid peroxidation (anti-LPO) were determined in different extracts (petroleum ether (AH-PET), ethyl acetate (AH-EtOAc), ethanol (AH-EtOH) and aqueous extracts (AH-DW)) from the stems of A. harmandii. Total phenolics, total flavonoids, ascorbic acid, alkaloids, tannins, and saponins were also investigated. The highest contents of total phenolics, ascorbic acid and alkaloids were found in the AH-EtOH extract while the highest contents of flavonoids and tannins were found in the AH-EtOAc. The AH-EtOAc exhibited the strongest total antioxidant, reducing power, anti-LPO and scavenging activity against DPPH· radicals. The order of antioxidant ability of A. harmandii extracts was as follows: AH-EtOAc > AH-EtOH > AH-DW > AH-PET. The strongest scavenging activity against ABTS·+ was found in the AH-EtOH extract. From our results, the ethyl acetate and ethanolic extracts from A. harmandii stems had high amounts of bioactive compounds and could be a powerful source for preventing degenerative disorder or promoting health.