Phytochemical content and antioxidant activity in fruits of Phyllanthus pectinatus Hook.f. and Phyllanthus emblica L. / Emma Natasya Ahmad

Emma Natasya , Ahmad (2024) Phytochemical content and antioxidant activity in fruits of Phyllanthus pectinatus Hook.f. and Phyllanthus emblica L. / Emma Natasya Ahmad. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Phyllanthus pectinatus is often mistakenly classified as Phyllanthus emblica since both species morphologically look very similar to each other. Unlike P. emblica, P. pectinatus have a very limited published work on its phytochemical constituents and biological activities. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the phytochemical content and antioxidant activities of the fruits of P. pectinatus in comparison with fruits of P. emblica. The phytochemicals, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), ascorbic acid content (AAC) and the antioxidant potentials of both P. pectinatus fruit (PPF) and P. emblica fruit (PEF) extracts were determined. The phytochemical screening result showed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, tannins, phlobatannins, terpenoids and sterols in both PPF and PEF extracts while saponin was only detected in PPF extract. The PPF contained the highest TPC (1140 ± 1.41 mg GAE/g DW) and TFC (35.88 ± 3.17 mg QE/g DW). Meanwhile, the highest value of AAC was from PEF (291.60 ± 0.00 mg/100g). Furthermore, the result revealed that PPF had the highest antioxidant potential against 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP). The TPC and TFC of both PPF and PEF showed strong positive correlation with total antioxidant activities. On the other hand, the correlation between AAC with all antioxidant assays were negative. The results suggested that both PPF and PEF are a good source of antioxidants. In addition, PPF can potentially be considered as a beneficial natural source of antioxidant.

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