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Pizon et al.
Int. J. Biosci.
2016
RESEARCH PAPER OPEN ACCESS
GC-MS analysis and evaluation of
in vitro
antioxidant potential
and total phenolics content of wild hops (
Flemingia strobilifera
(L.) W. T. Aiton)
Jhoan Rhea L. Pizon1, Olga M. Nuñeza1*, Mylene M. Uy2, W.T.P.S.K Senarath3
1Department of Biological Sciences, Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology
(MSU-IIT), Iligan City, Philippines
2Department of Chemistry, Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT),
Iligan City, Philippines
3Department of Botany, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
Key words: Fabaceae, Gas chromatography, Leaf extracts, Scavenging activity.
http://dx.doi.org/10.12692/ijb/8.1.25-32
Article published on January 20, 2016
Abstract
Wild hops (Flemingia strobilifera Linn.) is a shrub belonging to Fabaceae family. The leaves of F. strobilifera
are commonly used by the Subanen, the indigenous group in Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines to treat
inflammation. In this study, the hydromethanolic (80%) and aqueous leaf extracts of F. strobilifera were
evaluated for their antioxidant activity and total phenolics content. The active semi-volatile components of 80%
methanol leaf extract were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). DPPH radical
scavenging activity was used to determine the potential of this plant as anti-oxidant. Total phenolics content was
determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and calculated as gallic acid equivalence. GC-MS analysis revealed the
presence of eight compounds. Both the 80% methanol and aqueous extracts of F. strobilifera showed significant
scavenging activity with low IC50 values of 0.299 mg/mL and <0.25 mg/mL, respectively. There was positive
correlation between the scavenging activity percentage and the total phenolics content only in the aqueous
extract of F. strobilifera while 80% methanol extract showed negative correlation between inhibition percentage
and total phenolics content which can be attributed to the solvent used and method used in quantification of
phenolics. Nevertheless, the results suggest that these leaf extracts are potent source of antioxidant compounds
and may serve as natural anti-inflammatory agents.
* Corresponding Author: Olga M. Nuñeza olgamnuneza@yahoo.com
International Journal of Biosciences | IJB |
ISSN: 2220-6655 (Print), 2222-5234 (Online)
http://www.innspub.net
Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 25-32, 2016
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Pizon et al.
Int. J. Biosci.
2016
Introduction
Free radicals cause oxidative stress and induce DNA
damage, protein carbonylation, and lipid
peroxidation which result into several health-related
problems such as aging, cancer, Parkinson’s disease
(Garg et al., 2013), and inflammation (Halliwell,
1999). Free radical-induced diseases can be alleviated
by the application of antioxidants. An antioxidant is a
molecule capable of slowing or preventing the
oxidation of other molecules. Furthermore, there is a
widespread agreement that the synthetic antioxidants
such as butylatedhydroxytoluene,
butylatedhydroxyanisole, gallic acid esters, and
tertiary butylatedhydroquinone must be replaced
with natural antioxidants since synthetic antioxidants
impose health risk and toxicity and have low
solubility along with moderate antioxidant activity
(Peteros and Uy, 2010; Bhaskar et al., 2009; Garg et
al., 2013). Thus, there is a need to develop potential
sources of natural antioxidants.
Medicinal plants indeed have great importance to
human health and the society in the treatment of a
wide range of diseases. According to Chanda et al.
(2011), the use of traditional medicine is widespread
and plants still represent a large source of natural
antioxidants that might serve as leads for the
development of novel drugs. Aside from being useful
and economically essential, plants are also safe from
harmful side effects caused by synthetic drugs (Azlim
et al., 2010). Moreover, plants that exhibit free radical
scavenging activity can also inhibit inflammatory
agents (Miguel, 2010).
Flemingia strobilifera (L.) W.T. Aiton (wild hops)
which belongs to family Fabaceae is traditionally used
by the Subanen tribe in the treatment or suppression
of inflammation. Biochemical assessments reveal the
presence of chalcone, flavonoid glycosides, aurone
glycosides, epoxy chromenes, lipids, phenolic
compounds, tannins and phytosterols in F.
strobilifera (Madan et al., 2008; Ghalot et al., 2011;
Ramcharan et al., 2010). There have been several
studies conducted on the roots, however, leaves are
less studied. Hence, the present study aims to assess
the antioxidant activity, total phenolics content, and
the compounds present in the leaf extracts of F.
strobilifera which may validate the traditional use of
this plant as anti-inflammatory agent.
Materials and methods
Collection of Plant Material
The leaves of F. strobilifera were collected from the
Municipality of Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur,
Philippines (Fig. 1.).
Fig. 1. Map of the Municipality of Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines (https://maps.google.com.ph/,
2015).
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Pizon et al.
Int. J. Biosci.
2016
The leaves were washed properly under running tap
water and distilled water, air dried, powdered, and
stored in an airtight container.
Preparation of Extracts
Maceration
Fifteen grams of the dried and powdered leaves were
soaked in 150 mL 80% methanol in a mechanical
shaker at 100 rpm for seven days. The solution was
filtered and the filtrates were collected and
evaporated using a rotary evaporator at 50 °C. The
crude extract obtained was then stored in a freezer
(Amarowicz et al., 2003).
Decoction
A 400 mL volume of distilled water was added to 15.0
g of powdered leaves of F. strobilifera. The mixture
was boiled to obtain 100 mL. The decoction was
filtered and the obtained filtrates were subjected to
evaporation in a rotary evaporator at 50°C. The
resultant extract was lyophilized to remove excess
water then placed in air tight containers and stored in
the freezer for further use.
DPPH radical scavenging activity of leaf extracts
Antioxidant activity of the F. strobilifera leaf extracts
was quantified by measuring the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-
picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity.
The DPPH (Sigma) scavenging activity of the extracts
was determined using spectrophotometry which was
adopted from the method of Perera et al. (2013).
Reaction mixture was prepared using 2.5mL of
6.5x10-5 M freshly prepared DPPH solution and 0.5
mL of extract dissolved in methanol. Extracts were
tested in four concentrations (0.25 mg/mL, 0.5
mg/mL, 1.0 mg/mL, and 2.0 mg/mL) with three
replicates at room temperature in a dark condition.
Absorbance was measured at 540 nm using UV-Vis
spectrophotometer (SHIMADZU UV mini 1240).
Methanol was used as control. Ascorbic acid was used
as the reference standard. The percentage of DPPH
radical scavenging activity was determined using the
equation:
% scavenging activity= A0-As/ A0 x 100
Determination of Total Phenolics Content
Total phenolics content of the extracts was
determined using the protocol of Formagio et al.
(2014). An aliquot of 100µL of extract in methanol
(1.0 mg/mL) was mixed with 1.0 mL of distilled water
and 0.5 mL of Folin-Ciocalteu’s reagent (1:10 v/v).
After mixing, 1.5 mL of 2% aqueous sodium
bicarbonate was added and the mixture was allowed
to stand for 30 minutes with intermittent manual
shaking. Total phenolics content is expressed as gallic
acid equivalence (GAE) in mg gallic acid per gram of
extract. The methanol solution served as blank. All
assays were carried out in triplicate. The total
phenolics content was determined from a standard
calibration plot of absorbances of gallic acid
measured at different concentrations (4.0 ug/mL, 8.0
ug/mL, 16.0 ug/mL, 32.0 ug/mL, 63.0 ug/mL).
GC-MS Analysis of leaf extract
For the preparation of extracts for the analysis, 1.0
mg of the crude extract was diluted with a mixture
containing 0.5 mL absolute methanol and 0.5 mL
dichloromethane to separate chlorophyll. The upper
layer with no chlorophyll was transferred to another
tube. A 10.0 µL was then taken and was further
diluted with 1.0 mL chloroform. The GC-MS analysis
was carried out using Agilent Technologies 7890A GC
system coupled to 5975C Mass Selective detector, and
driven by Agilent Chemstation software and with HP-
5MS 30mx 0.25mm x 0.25 µm df capillary column.
The carrier gas was ultra-pure helium at a flow rate of
1.0mL/ min. and a liner velocity of 37 cm/s. The
temperature of the injector was set at 320°C. The
instrument was set to an initial temperature of 70°C
which was programmed to increase to 280°C at the
rate of 10°C/ min with a hold time of 4 min. at each
increment injections. An aliquot of 1 µL sample was
injected in a split mode 100:1. The mass spectrometer
was operated in the electron ionization mode at 70eV
and electron multiplier voltage at 1859V. Other MS
operating parameters were: ion source temperature
230°C, quadruple temperature °C, solvent delay 3
min and scan range 22-550 amu (automatic mass
unit). The compounds were identified by direct
comparison of the mass spectrum of the analyte at a
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Pizon et al.
Int. J. Biosci.
2016
particular retention time to that of a reference
standard found in the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) library. Total GC running
time was 45 min (Chipiti et al., 2015).
Statistical analysis
All experiments were carried out in triplicates. Data
were expressed in Mean ± standard deviation.
Statistical analysis was done with SPSS software
(version 20.0). Difference at p <0.05 was considered
statistically significant.
Results and discussion
2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical
scavenging activity of leaf extracts
The leaf extracts of F. strobilifera exhibited
significant radical scavenging activity (Table 1).
Table 1. Average DPPH scavenging activity of hydroalcohol and aqueous leaf extracts of F. strobilifera at
different concentrations.
Extracts
% Activity
0.25 mg/mL
0.5 mg/mL
1 mg/mL
2 mg/mL
IC50 mg/mL
80% methanol
42.00± 2.36
64.57± 0.53
73.09± 0.50
77.73± 1.25
0.299
aqueous
61.73± 1.54
67.16± 1.14
71.30± 1.67
74.28± 1.41
<0.25
Ascorbic acid*
65.17± 3.95
72.20± 0.39
73.39± 0.30
83.86± 1.32
<0.25
*standard.
The scavenging activity of the leaf extracts was dose-
dependent wherein the % activity increased as the
concentration of the leaf extract was increased. Both
80% methanol and aqueous leaf extracts exhibited
high activity which is more or less comparable to the
standard (ascorbic acid) wherein the aqueous extract
has values ranging from 61.73± 1.54 to 74.28± 1.41
mg/mL and the methanol extracts with values
ranging from 42.00± 2.36 to 77.73± 1.25 mg/mL.
Moreover, the low IC50 value of the aqueous extract
(<0.25 mg/mL) is the same with the standard
(ascorbic acid) with IC50 value of 0.25 mg/mL. The
IC50 of the methanol extract (0.299 mg/mL),
however ,is slightly higher than the standard but is
still considered low. According to Figueroa et al.
(2014), low IC50 value denotes high ability of the
extracts to act as DPPH scavenger. Thus, the results
indicate that the 80% methanol and the aqueous leaf
extracts of F. strobilifera are potent antioxidants.
Table 2. Total phenolic content of extracts expressed in mean gallic acid equivalence (GAE).
Sample
Extracts
GAE (mg/g extract)
F. strobilifera
80% methanol
12.49± 0.020
aqueous
102.98± 0.003
Total Phenolics Content
In order to further confirm the antioxidant activity of
the extracts of F. strobilifera, their total phenolics
content was evaluated. Table 2 shows the total
amount of phenolics of the two extracts expressed as
Gallic Acid Equivalence (GAE). Apparently, the total
phenolics content of the aqueous extract is higher
than the 80% methanol extract with GAE values
102.98± 0.003 and 12.49± 0.020, respectively.
Phenols comprise the largest group of secondary
metabolites that have been reported to have
antioxidant properties which play an important role
in lipid peroxidation and other biological activities
(Sanadhya et al., 2013). They are very important in
plants because of their scavenging ability due to their
hydroxyl groups. In addition, the antioxidant ability
of phenols is due to their redox properties which play
an important role in absorbing and neutralizing free
radicals, quenching singlet and triplet oxygen, or
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Pizon et al.
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2016
decomposing peroxides (Osawa, 1994).
As observed, there is a positive correlation between
DPPH radical scavenging activity and the total
phenolics content of aqueous leaf extracts of F.
strobilifera. The aqueous extract exhibited higher
radical scavenging activity and showed considerably
higher amount of total phenolics than 80%
methanolic extract. The result obtained is in contrast
with the findings of Othman et al. (2014) that alcohol
extracts exhibited higher total phenolics content
compared to the water extracts.
Table 3. Compounds found in the 80% methanolic leaf extract of F. strobilifera.
Compound
Similarity Index (%)
Abundance (%)
Thiocyanic acid, ethyl ester
72
0.74
Limonene
60
0.41
Phenol, 3,5-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl)
74
0.92
Eicosane
78
0.73
Heptacosane
68
0.90
Hexanedioic acid, bis (2-ethylhexyl) ester
62
2.71
Hexacosane
94
3.50
Nonadecane
98
6.31
However, the finding in this study supports the work
of Vuong et al. (2013) where water was shown to be
an effective solvent for extraction of polyphenols from
papaya leaves contributing to the high total phenollics
content of the extract. On the other hand, there is a
weak correlation between DPPH radical scavenging
and total phenolics content of 80% methanol where
the extract exhibits DPPH radical scavenging activity
but was found to contain relatively low amount of
phenolics. This might be due to the method used in
the quantification of phenols. The Folin-Ciocalteu
assay gives a crude estimate on the total phenolics
content of an extract, whereas the DPPH free radical
scavenging assay is not only specific to polyphenols
(Prior et al., 2005). In addition, Folin-Ciocalteu
reagent measures not only the total phenolics content
but also other oxidation substrates. The other
oxidation substrates present in a given extract sample
may interfere with the total phenolics measurement
in an inhibitory, additive, or enhancing manner. The
inhibitory effects could be due to the oxidants
competing with Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Moreover,
various phenolic compounds respond differently in
the DPPH assay, depending on the number of
phenolic groups they have (Singleton and Rossi,
1965). Furthermore, Tahawa et al. (2007) suggested
that negative correlation between antioxidant activity
and total phenolics content might be due to the fact
that total phenolics content does not necessarily
incorporate all the antioxidants that may be present
in an extract. These findings may help explain the
negative correlation obtained between the DPPH
scavenging activity and the total phenolics content of
the 80% methanol leaf extract observed in the present
study.
GC-MS Analysis of Leaf Extract
There were eight active compounds detected that
could contribute to the medicinal property of the
plant (Table 3). Among the eight compounds
identified in this study, the major compounds are
hydrocarbons nonadecane (6.31%), hexacosane
(3.50%), and hexanedioic acid, bis (2-ethylhexyl)
ester (2.71%) whereas thiocyanic acid, ethyl ester,
limonene, phenol, 3, 5-bis (1, 1-dimethylethyl),
eicosane, and heptacosane are present in lesser
amount.
Although present in lesser quantity, the compounds
limonene, eicosane, and hexanedioic acid, bis (2-
ethylhexyl) ester might also contribute to the
antioxidant capacity of the 80% methanol extract
(Sermakanni and Thangapandian, 2012; Kazemi,
2015). Nonadecane is reported to have high
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Pizon et al.
Int. J. Biosci.
2016
antioxidant activity (Dandekar et al., 2015) and
antidiabetic activity (Hamidi et al., 2012).
Hexacosane is found to have antimicrobial properties
(Rukaiyat et al., 2015). Eicosane is found to have
antioxidant and antidiabetic action (Hamidi et al.,
2012; Chang et al., 2004). Hexadecanoic acid, bis (2-
ethylhexyl) ester is reported to have antioxidant
activity (Sermakanni and Thangapandian, 2012 ).
Conclusion
The aqueous and hydroalcoholic leaf extracts of F.
strobilifera showed significant radical scavenging
activity which is comparable to the standard used.
These extracts may serve as potential sources of
natural antioxidants. Relatively, aqueous extract had
high antioxidant activity and total phenolics content.
The 80% methanol extract, however, exhibited high
antioxidant activity but had low total phenolics
content which might be due to the method of
quantification used. Moreover, the active components
detected might contribute to antioxidant activity of
the leaf extracts, thus can be a potent anti-
inflammatory agent.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank DOST-ASTHRDP for the research
grant, DOST-PCIEERD for providing financial
support, and the University of Sri Jayewardenepura,
Sri Lanka for providing research facilities.
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