An Assessment of Total Polyphenolic Content and Antioxidant Potential of Mauby Bark Extracts (Colubrina arborescens) Brewed for Different Lengths of Time

Abstract

Mauby bark (Colubrina arborescens) is commonly used to make a beverage,“Mauby”, in the Caribbean and is believed to possess antiglycemic, antilipidemic, and anticarcinogenic properties. However, limited studies have been conducted to substantiate the compounds present that may confer these benefits. Therefore, the objectives of this research were to quantify the total polyphenolic content and evaluate the antioxidant capacity of Mauby bark extracts brewed in water at 30, 45, and 60 minutes. In the extracts, the Total Flavonoid Content (TFC) ranged from 1.93 - 3.17 mg CE/mL and the Total Phenolic Content (TPC) ranged from 2.10 mg ± 0.11 GAE/mL (45 minutes) - 2.36 mg ± 0.067 GAE/mL (30 minutes). Moreover, their antioxidant activity was assessed using the 2,2 Diphenyl 1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and  Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assays. The DPPH scavenging activity observed from Mauby extracts ranged from 75% ± 4.02 (30 minutes) to 83% ± 0.66 (60 minutes) and the FRAP values ranged from 6.29± 0.84 (30 minutes) to 6.90 ± 1.54 mM FeSO4 equivalents/ 0.2 mL Mauby extract (45 minutes). Although, polyphenolic content at 30 minutes was greater than 60 minutes of brewing for TFC (p < 0.001) and TPC (p = 0.002), the scavenging activity was greater at 60 minutes than 30 minutes (p = 0.014) while antioxidant power was not affected by brewing time (p = 0.736). In summary, brewing the bark at 60 minutes was observed to provide the highest antioxidant activity.

Chemopreventative Potential of Plant-Based Extracts Coffee (Coffea) and Mauby (Colubrina Arborescens) using the Global Antioxidant Response (GAR) Method via in vitro Simulated Digestion

“…Overall, higher intakes of coffee were inversely associated with risk of colorectal cancer, suggesting potential associations between colorectal cancer risk and coffee consumption. A separate study by Embola et al (2019) assessed antioxidant activity of Mauby and found the bark to contain polyphenols which exhibited free radical scavenging activity, suggesting their potential to protect against oxidative stress within the body. As can be seen, these results are suggestive of the multitude of diseases in which plant extracts may offer protection from.…”

Estimation of Total Phenolic and Total Flavonoid Contents, In-Vitro Antioxidant Activity and Median Inhibitory Concentration of Methanol Root Extract of Ximenia americana, L. Olacaceae

“…Flavonoid is the largest class of polyphenolic compounds that are well distributed in plants [9,22]. This class of polyphenolics is made up of about six sub-classes including; anthocyanidins, flavonols, flavanones, flavones, flavonols, and isoflavones [5,23,24]. Fig.…”

“…Polyphenolic compounds such as phenolics and flavonoids are secondary metabolites and a group of phytochemicals that are synthesized by plants to provide immunity for them against adversity [5]. Also, these classes of compounds have been demonstrated to possess excellent antioxidant activity that helps to scavenge or neutralize reactive oxygen and nitrogen (RON) species or free radicals that are known to cause oxidative stress in humans [6][7][8][9][10]1].…”