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Corchorus olitorius (jute) is a native plant of tropical Africa and Asia, and has since spread to Australia, South America and some parts of Europe. Its leafy vegetable is popularly used in soup preparation and folk medicine for the treatment of fever, chronic cystitis, cold and tumours. A comparative study of the antioxidant properties of hydrophilic extract (HE) and lipophilic extract (LE) constituents of the leafy vegetable has been assessed. HE and LE of the leaf were prepared using water and hexane, respectively and their antioxidant properties were determined. HE had a significantly higher (P<0.05) 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging ability (aqueous, 9.6-84.4%; hexane, 2.0-20.4%), reducing power (aqueous, 0.67 mmol ascorbic acid equivalent/g; hexane, 0.49 mmol ascorbic acid equivalent/g) and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (aqueous, 2.3 mmol/g; hexane, 1.1 mmol/g) than LE; conversely, LE had a significantly higher (P<0.05) OH. scavenging activity (44.5-46.2%) than HE (11.6-32.3%), while there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in their Fe(II) chelating ability (HE, 57.7-66.7%; LE, 56.4-61.1%). The higher 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging ability, reducing power and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity of the hydrophilic extract may be due to its significantly higher (P<0.05) total phenol (630.8 mg/100 g), total flavonoid (227.8 mg/100 g) and non-flavonoid polyphenols (403.0 mg/100 g), and its high ascorbic acid content (32.6 mg/100 g). While the higher OH. scavenging ability of LE may be due to its high total carotenoid content (42.5 mg/100 g). Therefore, the additive/synergistic antioxidant activities of the hydrophilic and lipophilic constituents may contribute to the medicinal properties of C. olitorius leaf.

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