Evaluation of the Antioxidant Activities of Prunus Domestica Whole Fruit: an in Vitro Study

Objective: Prunus domestica is known for its nutritional values and therapeutic properties. It contains rich amount of natural phenolic phytochemicals such as phenolic acids, flavonoids and anthocyanin. Previous reports suggest that prune extract and juice inhibit peroxidation process. As no detailed antioxidant property, particularly on the whole fruit was studied, in this investigation, we not only evaluated the detailed antioxidantive activities of different fractions of P. domestica fruit but also tried to correlate the same with total phenol and flavonoids contents. Methods: Simple warring blender method for extraction, folinciocalteu method for total phenolic content, aluminium chloride colorimetric method for total flavonoid content were employed. Different antioxidant activities such as total antioxidant, iron chelating, hydrogen peroxide scavenging of superoxide radical and reducing power method were performed. Result: Simple warring blender method, used in the present study for the preparation of whole fruit extract exhibited better yield potential, total phenolic and flavonoid contents. A comparative study of different fraction types indicated that ethyl acetate fraction had very high phenolic and flavonoid contents that also exhibited maximum antioxidant activity. Butanol fraction also showed somewhat similar results. Conclusion: Ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions showed maximum antioxidative potential. Further studies will be helpful to explore its therapeutic potential in treating different chronic diseases.