Proximate composition and evaluation of some antioxidant properties of the fresh fruits of Harungana madagascariensis Lam. Ex Poir. (Hypericaceae)

Abstract

This study reports the proximate composition and some antioxidant properties: free radical scavenging (FRS), total phenolics content (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) of the under-utilized fresh fruits of Harungana madagascariensis, a plant widely used in folklore medicine. The proximate compositions were determined following the AOAC method. The antioxidant properties FRS, TPC and TFC were respectively evaluated in vitro using the standard diphenyl picryl hydrazine (DPPH), Folin ciocateau and Aluminium chloride spectrophotometric assays. The proximate compositions: water content (13.771 g/100g fresh fruit), dry matter (82.229 g/100g fresh fruit), ash (3.087 g/100g fresh fruit), crude fat (42.011 g/100g fresh fruit), crude protein (6.489 g/100g fresh fruit), crude fibre (0.396 g/100g fresh fruit), total carbohydrate (34.246 g/100g fresh fruit) and Energy value (541.036 Kcal/100 g fresh fruit) were obtained from the fruit of H. madagascariensis. For the antioxidant properties, a TPC (6.758 mg tannic acid equivalent per g fresh fruit), TFC (0.055 mg quercetin equivalent/g fresh fruit) and FRS (IC50 = 0.05 mg/mL) were obtained. This study is reporting for the first time the proximate composition of the fruits of H. madagascariensis a plant widely used in ethno-medicine in addition to its antioxidant potentials and recommends it as a good source of functional food.