Abstract:
Introduction: Antioxidants are substances that can inhibit or delay unwanted reactions of
oxidation through one or more mechanisms. Antioxidant phytochemicals found in
medicinal plants could play an important role in the prevention and treatment of chronic
diseases caused by oxidative stress. This study focused on evaluating the antioxidant
properties of different parts of Momordica balsamina as its parts are traditionally used for
treating diabetes in the northern province.
Objective: To evaluate the antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts of different parts of
Momordica balsamina.
Methodology: Leaves, unripe fruits and ripened fruits of M. Balsamina were collected and
allowed to dry in the shade and powdered. Powdered materials were extracted using
maceration process with methanol. The mixtures were filtered, and solvents were
evaporated using a rotary evaporator under reduced pressure. Methanolic extracts from
different parts of M.balsamina were evaluated in triplicates for their antioxidant properties
through ferric reduction antioxidant assay using ascorbic acid as a positive control. The
antioxidant activity of plant parts was presented as ascorbic acid equivalents.
Results: The methanolic extract of ripened fruits, dried leaf and dried unripen fruits
showed ascorbic acid equivalents of 56.6 μg/ 50 μg of dried sample, 23.1 μg/ 50 μg of
dried sample and 25.7 μg/ 50 μg of dried sample respectively. Methanolic extract of unripe
fruit showed the highest anti-oxidant potential among the three extracts.
Conclusion: Methanolic extracts of leaf, unripe fruit and ripened fruit of M.balsamina
were found to have reduction potential and antioxidant capacity. Further studies are needed
to screen the specific bioactive compounds which are responsible for their antioxidant
activity.
