
	International Journal of Biological Chemistry
	Year: 2011 \| Volume: 5 \| Issue: 2 \| Page No.: 143-149

Cytotoxicity and Free Radical Scavenging Activities of Hexane Fractions of Nigeria Specie of African Pear (Dacryodes edulis)

Patricia A. Onocha, Ganiyat K. Oloyede and Qasim O. Afolabi

Abstract: The cytotoxicity using Brine shrimp lethality assay and free-radical scavenging activities of fractions obtained from chromatographic separation of Dacryodes edulis (G.Don) H.J. Lam (African Pear) were investigated. The hexane extract was separated into smaller fractions by using a mixture of hexane, ethylacetate and methanol and silica gel 70-230 mesh as adsorbent in a gradient elution-column chormatographic technique. The in vitro antioxidant assay involved determination of the effect on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and spectrophotometric determination of D. edulis is the scavenging effect on hydrogen peroxide carried out at 285 nm. The free radical scavenging activities were compared with the activities of known antioxidants such as Ascorbic Acid (AA), Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and α-Tocopherol. Fractions obtained were pooled based on R_f values obtained from Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). Cytotoxicity analysis revealed that out of the five pooled fractions (D₁-D₅) screened, fractions D₁, D₃, and D₄ were not toxic as their LC₅₀ values were all greater than 1,000 μg mL^-1, D₂ (LC₅₀ = 0.0000 μg mL^-1) and D₅ (LC₅₀ = 116.6931 μg mL^-1) were toxic at varied degrees with reference to 1,000 μg mL^-1. None of the fractions showed significant free radical scavenging activity when compared to standards Butylated hydroxylanisole (BHA), Ascorbic acid (AA) and α-Tocopherol. At 1.0 mg mL^-l when screened with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical, D₄ (17.7%) and D₅ (17.6%) both scavenged better than α-Tocopherol(15.4%). Fractions D₂(14.2%), D₄ (14.8%) and D₅ (17.5%), at 500 μg mL^-1 exhibited better activities than α-Tocopherol (12.4%) and at 250 μg mL^-1, only D₄ (14.0%) was better than α-Tocopherol (12.4%), these %inhibition values are however lower than values obtained for BHA and AA. None of the samples scavenged better than α-Tocopherol (12.1%) at 125 μg mL^-1 and only D₄(10.6%) exhibited greater scavenging capacity than α-Tocopherol (10.4%) at the least concentration of 62.5 μg mL^-1. The activity was also low with scavenging effects on Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) measured at 285 nm. Interestingly, α-Tocopherol showed an exceptionally high antioxidant activity in scavenging OH radical when compared to its activity in DPPH. The ability to scavenge hydroxyl radical which is known to cause cellular damage justifies the ethno medicinal application of D. edulis.

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How to cite this article:

Patricia A. Onocha, Ganiyat K. Oloyede and Qasim O. Afolabi, 2011. Cytotoxicity and Free Radical Scavenging Activities of Hexane Fractions of Nigeria Specie of African Pear (Dacryodes edulis). International Journal of Biological Chemistry, 5: 143-149.

URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ijbc.2011.143.149

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