Antioxidant activities of methanolic extract of Sapium ellipticum

The stem bark extract of S. ellipticum (Hochst) Pax was investigated for its antioxidant properties in this study. The extract was evaluated for antioxidant activity in vitro in terms of its ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation and its free radical scavenging, reducing and metal chelation powers. The total amount of phenolic compounds in the extract was also determined in terms of gallic acid equivalent. The extract produced effective free radical scavenging and reducing activities in a dose dependent fashion. The extract exhibited noticeable inhibition of lipid peroxidation of linoleic acid emulsion. These activities were less than that of ascorbic acid and 2,6-Di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol used as positive controls. The extract however demonstrated poor iron chelating ability compared to ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid. The total phenolic content of the extract was 50.61 +/- 0.08 mg g(-1) in terms of gallic acid. This study showed that the stem bark extract of S. ellipticum exhibits significant antioxidant activity and is a good source of natural antioxidants.