ABSTRACT

Background: Hevea brasiliensis, a rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant of the Euphorbiaceae family Spurge. Milky rubber extracted from the tree is the primary source of natural rubber, so it is the most economically important member of the Hevea species. Objective: This study aims to identify the phytochemical analysis and antioxidant activity of Hevea brasiliensis leaf extract in various solvent systems. Methods: The leaves of Hevea brasiliensis were dried and extracted with five different solvents (pet ether, n-hexane, chloroform, methanol, and ethanol). The qualitative screening of alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, and tannins was done by Wagner’s test, Ferric chloride test, Shibita’s reaction test, and Braymer’s test, respectively. The quantitative amount of total alkaloids and tannins were determined by titrimetric methods. Total phenols were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method. Total flavonoids were determined by the aluminum chloride (AlCl3) colorimetric method. 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydroxyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging assay were used for evaluating the antioxidant activity of three different solvent extracts of leaves of Hevea brasiliensis. Results: Preliminary phytochemical screening of five different solvent extracts of leaves of Hevea brasiliensis showed that only methanolic and ethanolic extract gives the significant responses against four selected phytochemicals. The ethanol and methanolic extract also gives the significant antioxidant activity against DPPH and H2O2 radical scavenging assay compared to standard ascorbic acid. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the ethanolic and methanolic leave extracts of Hevea brasiliensis has potent antioxidant activity which may be responsible for some of its reported pharmacological activities and can be used as an antioxidant supplement. Keywords: Hevea brasiliensis, secondary metabolite, anti-oxidant activity, DPPH assay, H2O2 assay, phytochemicals
Publication date: 01/12/2022

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2022/December/MS_IJBPAS_2022_6675.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2022/11.12.6675