Antioxidant potential, Total Vitamin C, phenolic and flavonoids content of sweet potato leaves

Abstract

Sweet potato leaves are a valuable source of bioactive nutrients such chlorophyll, reducing sugars, dietary fibers, vitamins, minerals and phenolic compounds. The present study evaluated the vitamin C content, total phenolic and flavonoids contents in sampled mature leaves from five sweet potato genotypes (’Hayanmi’, ’KSP1’, ’KSC1’, ’Yulmi’, ’Juhwangmi’) grown in green house conditions. The highest values for all chemical compounds analysed were found in leaves sampled from ‘KSP1’ and ‘Yulmi’ cultivars. Positive significantly correlation between the antioxidant activity estimated by DPPH radical scavenging activity and vitamin C content (r2 = 0.892), total polyphenol content (r2 = 0.878) and total flavonoid content (r2 = 0.936) were found. The results obtained in this study highlights the nutritional value and the antioxidant potential of this vegetative parte of the plant, an inexpensive source of natural antioxidants beneficial for the humans health.