Overall, the edible plants were observed to display a high antioxidant potential with starch hydrolase inhibitory properties, which were beneficial in their being recognized as functional food.

The total antioxidant capacity of Brassica nigra seeds (Black Mustard Seeds) and the presence of phenolic compounds which are known to exist in seeds of this family were quantified. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2, 2-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical scavenging assays were conducted on dichloromethane, ethanol, ethyl acetate, hexane, methanol and water extracts of the seeds. Water and ethanol extracts displayed the highest antioxidant activity.Phenolic compounds which have been known to demonstrate antioxidant properties such as catechin, epicatechin, gallic acid, myricetin, quercetin and rutin were present in all extracts.

No abstract

Pterocarpus marsupium is a popular spice incorporated into culinary preparations around the world, which is also used for its antidiabetic treatment in traditional medicine. The objective of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant and starch hydrolase inhibitory properties of Pterocarpus marsupium leaves. The total antioxidant capacity, total phenolics content, starch hydrolase inhibitory activities and superoxide dismutase mimetic (SODm) activity of various leaf extracts of Pterocarpus marsupium were studied. Extracts of dichloromethane (DCM), ethanol (EtOH), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), hexane (HEX), methanol (MeOH) and water were compared. The total phenolics contents of the extracts decreased in the order of water > EtOH > EtOAc > MeOH > DCM > HEX. The antioxidant and SODm activity values of the extracts decreased in the same order as the total phenolics contents, while the DPPH EC50 values increased in the reverse order. Pterosupin and pterostilbene had the highest content out of all the phenolic compounds quantified across all solvent extracts. The highest starch hydrolase inhibitory activities were observed in the water extract. Pterocarpus marsupium was observed to be a good source of antioxidant compounds and therapeutic properties.