TOTAL PHENOLIC AND FLAVONIOD CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF NIGELLA SATIVA L. SEEDS

The present study aimed to determine and compare total phenolic, flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity of Nigella sativa L. seeds crude extract and various fractions obtained through macroporous resin. Antioxidant activity were evaluated by DPPH assay. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined as pyrocatechol and rutin equivalents, respectively, and correlated with antioxidant activities. Results showed that fraction with 40% ethanol exhibited the highest content of total phenolic (138.85 +/- 0.53 mg PE/g extract). Besides, the highest concentration offlavonoids (140.11 +/- 5.47mg RU/g extract) and the highest antioxidant activity DPPH assay (IC50 = 1.26 +/- 0.21 mu g/ml) were observed for fraction with 20% ethanol. Total phenolic content and total flavonoid highly correlated each other and well correlated with antioxidant activity. To conclude, macroporous resin could be a very good low cost and nontoxic technical for natural sources of antioxidant substances with high value for fractionation of N. sativa L. seeds with 20% ethanol.