Abrus precatoriusLeaves: Antioxidant Activity in Food and Biological Systems, pH, and Temperature Stability

Abstract

Natural antioxidants present in foods and other biological materials have attracted considerable interest because of their presumed safety and potential nutritional and therapeutic effects. Antioxidant constituents of plant materials act as radical scavengers and convert the radicals to less reactive species. Abrus precatorius (AP) was analyzed for its proximate and phytochemical composition. The leaves were extracted with methanol (ME) and analyzed for antioxidant activity by radical scavenging method, reducing power, ferric reducing capacity, and in vitro inhibition of Fenton's reagent-induced oxidation in oil emulsion and microsomes. In addition, the effect of temperature (100°C, 15, and 30 min) and pH (4.5, 7, and 9) C on the antioxidant activity of ME was investigated. The leaves were rich in total polyphenols, flavonoids, β-carotene, glutathione, α-tocopherol, and ascorbic acid. The ME exhibited varying degree of antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner. The AP exhibited more inhibition of oxidation in microsomes (73%) than compared to oil emulsion (21%). Heat treatment resulted in an increase of radical scavenging activity of extract (28% to 43%). At pH 4.5 the extract exhibited more antioxidant activity and stability compared to pH 7 and 9. Data indicates that potential exists for the utilization of Abrus precatorius as a natural antioxidant.

Protective Effect of Selected Medicinal Plants against Hydrogen Peroxide Induced Oxidative Damage on Biological Substrates

“…Studies also report that they exhibit good antioxidant activity in vitro [13, 31] Table 1 depicts the phytochemical composition of the samples, where it was observed that CS and AnP were good sources of polyphenols, glutathione, β -carotene, total saponins, and steroidal saponins, whereas AP and CP were found to be good sources of flavonoids, alkaloids, α -tocopherol, vitamin C, and tannins.…”

“…Other medicinal plants, namely, Morus indica [9], Moringa oleifera , Aegle marmelos [10], Raphanus sativus , olive leaves [11], pomegranate peel [11], Costus speciosus [12], Canthium parviflorum [12], and Abrus precatorius [13] leaf extracts, have effectively inhibited the rate of oxidation in the edible oil emulsions.…”

“…These four plants were selected to investigate their antioxidative ability in biological substrates based on our earlier investigations which revealed their ability to inhibit oxidation in food system [12, 13]. In this ex vivo study, the antioxidative ability of various solvent extracts of these four plants to prevent oxidative damage against Fenton's reagent induced peroxidation in human erythrocytes and rat liver microsomes were explored.…”

An investigation into green coffee press cake as a renewable source of bioactive compounds

“…Society has shown increasing interest in natural antioxidants, since these may be safer than the synthetic ones (Reddy Palvai et al ., ). Antioxidants can be intended to many applications in the food industry, among them it could be mentioned the lipid oxidation prevention and browning prevention, as functional ingredients, and antimicrobials (Ayala‐Zavala et al ., ).…”

The Effects of Different Purifying Methods on the Chemical Properties, in Vitro Anti-Tumor and Immunomodulatory Activities of Abrus cantoniensis Polysaccharide Fractions

“…The whole plant has been used as a folk medicine for controlling fevers, removing toxicity, preventing jaundice as well as treating infectious hepatitis [ 1 ]. Previous studies have also demonstrated the potential biological activities of this plant, including antioxidant [ 2 ], anti-tumor [ 3 ], antimicrobial [ 4 ], hepatoprotective [ 5 ], and immunomodulatory activities [ 6 ].…”