Determination of concentration of p-carotene and antioxidant activity in selected tropical edible plants / Shahiza Musa

The action of P-carotene and other carotenoids as antioxidant has recently attracted widespread attention. Yellow and green vegetables or fruits are the main sources of antioxidant vitamin making these foods essential to human health. Recent research also has shown the p-carotene compounds have anti cancer, anti aging and anti heart disease. The objectives of this study was to determine the concentration of P-carotene and antioxidant activity in tropical edible plants. The plants used for this study were kesom (Polygonus minus Huds), mint (Mentha arrensis Linn), selom (Oenanthe javanica), cekur manis (Sauropus andrygonus), ulam raja (Cosmos caudatus) and tapioca shoot (Manihot utilissima). HPLC and UV spectrophotometer were the best method to determine the concentration of |3-carotene and antioxidant activity in plants respectively. The concentration of p-carotene obtained in this study were in the range of 12.22 - 922.26 mg/100 g for edible portion of the samples. Ulam raja (Cosmos caudatus) contained significantly (p < 0.05) the highest amount of p-carotene, 922.26 mg/100 g of edible portion of samples. The sequence of the concentration of p-carotene in these samples is ulam raja > selom > tapioca shoot > cekur manis > kesom > mint. For antioxidant activity, the standard of tocopherol (50 ppm) had significantly (p < 0.05) the highest, followed by BHT (50 ppm). Antioxidant activity of the six edible plants were in the range of 12.7 - 42.24 %. Kesom (Polygonus minus Huds) had significantly (p < 0.05) the highest antioxidant activity (42.24 %) when compared with other plant samples. The sequence of antioxidant activity in these samples was tocopherol (50 ppm) > BHT (50 ppm) > kesom > mint > tapioca shoot > selom > cekur manis > ulam raja.