Radical Scavenging Activities of a Novel Flavonoid (-)- Mesquitol Isolated from Prosopis juliflora Heartwood

Abstract

Radical scavenging activities of a novel flavonoid (-)-mesquitol isolated from Prosopis Juliflora heartwood was estimated by measuring methyl linoleate oxidation inhibition in a closed borosilicate glass reactor containing ((2, 2’-azobis (2-methylpropionitrile)) (AIBN) in 1-butanol as initiator and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) disappearance in UV Perkin Elmer spectrophotometer respectively. (-)-mesquitol like (+)-catechin was able to slow down oxidation of methyl linoleate induced by AIBN as well as inhibit the activities of DPPH radical. IC50 values for (-)-mesquitol were observed at approximately 23μg/ml while 50μg/ml, inhibited more than ninety percent of the DPPH radical. The IC50 value of well-known antioxidant compounds, (+)- catechin and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), used as reference controls in this study were approximately 29μg/ml and 268μg/ml respectively. Increasing (-)-mesquitol concentration from 0.009g/l to 0.09g/l decreased oxygen uptake from 70% to 20% respectively after 3hrs. (-)-mesquitol from P. juliflora heartwood could therefore be of valuable interest as potential source of antioxidant from renewable source.