In vitro Antioxidant Properties of Indigenous Underutilized Fruits

In the present study, in vitro antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacity of methanol extracts from 10 underutilized fruits viz., Syzygium cumini, Murraya koenigii. Coccinia grandis, Opuntia dillenii, Carissa carandus. Kirganalia reticulata, Canthium parviflorum. Lantana camara, Alangium lamarckii, and Morus alba were evaluated using established in vitro models such as ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH center dot.), 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiozoline6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS), hydroxyl radical (Off), nitric oxide radical (NU), super oxide radical (O-2(center dot-)) scavenging, and metal chelating activities. All the fruit extracts contained substantial concentration of total phenolics, tannins, and flavonoids. The extracts of O. dillenii, Al koenigii, K. reticulata, L. camara, and Al alba registered higher activity in DPPH center dot, ABTS(center dot+), and FRAP assays. Phenolic content of these fruits is significantly correlated with antioxidant capacity. Interestingly, all the extracts showed considerable nitric oxide, super oxide, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities in a dose dependant manner when compared with the standard butylatedhydroxyl anisole (BHA). Our findings revealed that these underutilized fruits have potential as good sources of natural antioxidant/nutraceutical compounds.