PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND DPPH FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING ACTIVITY OF METHANOL LEAF EXTRACT OF LAGGERA PTERODONTA SCH. BIP. EX OLIV.
Keywords:
Antioxidant, DPPH free radical, Laggera pterodonta, phytochemical, reactive oxygen species.Abstract
Laggera pterodonta is a typical Nigerian medicinal plant. There are roughly 20 species in the genus Laggera, which
is a member of the Asteraceae family. The aim of this study was to assess the phytochemical compounds present in
the Methanol leaf extract of Laggera pterodonta and to evaluate its antioxidant activity. The total phenolic content
(TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), total tannin content (TTC), and total saponin content (TSC) were evaluated by
employing the Folin-Ciocalteu's reagent, aluminum chloride (AlCl3) technique, Folin-Ciocalteu, and Makkar
methods; respectively. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method.
Phytochemical contents estimated were 854.5 ± 0.03, 1,277 ± 0.01, 5.794 ± 0.01 and 4.586 ± 0.01 for flavonoids,
phenolics, tannins and saponins; respectively. Antioxidant activity study revealed that Laggera pterodonta leaf
extract had IC50 of 3.06 μg/ml while ascorbic acid used as the standard had an IC50 of 0.58 μg/ml. Phytochemical
study of the extract of Laggera pterodonta leaf shows the presence of medicinally important bioactive compounds
and this justifies the use of the plant in traditional medicine for treatment of various diseases. The radical scavenging
activity of both Laggera pterodonta and ascorbic acid at different concentrations was observed. Scavenging of
DPPH was found to rise with increasing concentration of the extract, the highest scavenging activity was observed at
the concentration of 100 μg with value 59.71% while that of ascorbic acid was 86.38%. The outcome of this study
has shown that L. pterodonta extract has strong antioxidant property and is rich in flavonoid and phenolic
compounds.