Antioxidant activity and polyphenol content in edible wild fruits from Nepal

Abstract

Fifteen fruits commonly used by the ethnic population in Nepal were studied for the antioxidant activity and total polyphenol content (TPC). Among them, Terminalia bellirica, Terminalia chebula, Phyllanthus emblica and Spondias pinnata were the most potent antioxidants as compared with vitamin C based on the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical assay. These fruits also contained high TPCs. Spondias pinnata, Pyrularia edulis, Melastoma malabathricum, Cipadema bacifera and Choerospondias axillaries fruits were evaluated for the first time. Moreover, Spondias pinnata was found to be more potent (16% radical scavenging activity at 5 μg/ml) than vitamin C (5% radical scavenging activity at 5 μg/ml). Antioxidant activity showed correlation to TPC with the correlation coefficients (R²) as 0.7189 and 0.7246 for the methanol and water extracts, respectively. This study suggests that a number of these fruits may have the potential to confer beneficial health effects due to their antioxidant activity and TPC.

Keywords::

• Antioxidant
• polyphenol
• wild fruits
• 1
• 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Prof. Dr Radheshyam Kayestha, Tribhuvan University, Nepal for the identification of some of the fruits.

Declarations of interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.