Phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of fresh leaves of paederia foetida / Nurdiyana Amirah Mohamad Shahrul

The objectives of this research were to conduct preliminary phytochemical screening
and to determine the antioxidant activity of fresh leaves of P. foetida. The extracts
were prepared using methanol, ethanol and hexane by using simple maceration
process. Antioxidant activity of P.foetida was determined by using the total phenolic
content, total flavonoid content and DPPH assay. Bioactive compounds such as
alkaloids, phenols, terpenoids, glycosides, saponins and tannins were present in P.
foetida from the screening test. The IC50 of methanol, ethanol and hexanes extracts
were 1.7, 1.5 and 13.27 mg/mL respectively. The total phenolic content of the
methanolic, ethanolic and hexane extracts of P. foetida in terms of gallic acid
equivalent were 40.7, 35.4 and 7.57 GAE/g respectively. The total flavonoid content
of the methanolic, ethanolic and hexane extracts of P. foetida in terms of quercetin
equivalent were 9.1, 8.4, and 13.1 QE/g respectively. In the determination of
antioxidant activity, methanolic extract showed the highest value in term of IC50, TPC
and TFC. Hence, results obtained from this study shows that P. foetida is a promising
natural antioxidant and its potential should be further explored.