Antioxidant Activities of Cyperus rotundus L. Rhizome and Areca catechu L. Seed

Abstract

The aim of this study was to extract the active antioxidant compounds from Cyperus rotundus L. rhizome and Areca catechu L. seed using water and ethanol (50%), and determine the total polyphenol contents, activity of free radicals scavenging using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ferric reducing power of the extract of those materials. The result showed that both C. rotundus rhizome and areca seed extracted using ethanol contain a higher amount of polyphenols than water extracts. Total polyphenol extract of C. rotundus rhizome had a positive correlation with ferric reducing power, in which the ethanol extract that contain a high amount of polyphenols also exhibit high ferric reducing power. However, both ethanol and aqueous extracts of C. rotundus rhizome had the same ability to scavenge DPPH free radicals. On the other hand, there were different trends in the antioxidant activity of areca seed extract. The ethanol extract of areca seed contain a higher amount of total polyphenols than the aqueous extract, but it showed lower antioxidant activity to scavenge DPPH free radicals. However, both ethanol and aqueous extracts of areca seed showed the same level of ferric reducing power.