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ABSTRACT
Harpagophytum procumbens is an herbaceous plant with high medicinal value that grows in the Kalahari Desert region of Africa. Devil's claw plant tubers have been used since time immemorial by the native population of Southern Africa for treating a huge number of human ailments, including fever, diabetes, diarrhea and blood diseases. More recently, extracts of the secondary roots of the species have been found to be effective in the treatment of degenerative rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, tendonitis, kidney inflammation and heart disease. Therefore, Harpagophytum procumbens has been increasingly considered an alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The antioxidant activities of pure metabolites, as well as of total methanol extracts of the Devil's claw plants were evaluated in 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH·), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORACFL) and hydroxyl radical averting capacity (HORACFL) assays. The crude methanolic extract may be attractive for various commercial purposes since it displayed antioxidant activity and it can be conveniently and economically prepared.