Antioxidant activity of karimenga (Acorus calamus)

Karimenga (Acorus calamus) is an underutilized plant that contains bioactive compounds such as phenolics, flavonoids, and terpenoids. The accumulation of phenolic compounds varies in each part of the plant; hence the phenolic compounds in this experiment were extracted from leaf and rhizome using different organic solvents. The antioxidant activity was measured by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. The results showed that total phenol from the leaf extracted by methanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, and hexane were 22.17 mg GAE/g, 15.89 mg GAE /g, 12.79 mg GAE /g, and 11.49 mg GAE/g respectively. The flavonoid content were 5.07 mg QE /g, 6.55 mg QE /g, 3.85 mg QE /g, and 2.23 mg QE /g respectively which were calculated base on quercetin standard. On the other hand, the total phenol and flavonoid content from karimenga rhizome extracted by each organic solvent were 240.32 mg GAE/g, 139.02 mg GAE/g, 99.63 mg GAE/g, 105.57 mg GAE/g, and 63.06 mg QE /g, 48.35 mg QE /g, 43.07 mg QE /g, 31.78 mg QE /g, respectively. The antioxidant activities of leaf and rhizome extracts expressed as free radical scavenging activity were in the range of 75 – 90 %. The main volatile compound detected by GC-MS was α- and β-asarone.Karimenga (Acorus calamus) is an underutilized plant that contains bioactive compounds such as phenolics, flavonoids, and terpenoids. The accumulation of phenolic compounds varies in each part of the plant; hence the phenolic compounds in this experiment were extracted from leaf and rhizome using different organic solvents. The antioxidant activity was measured by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. The results showed that total phenol from the leaf extracted by methanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, and hexane were 22.17 mg GAE/g, 15.89 mg GAE /g, 12.79 mg GAE /g, and 11.49 mg GAE/g respectively. The flavonoid content were 5.07 mg QE /g, 6.55 mg QE /g, 3.85 mg QE /g, and 2.23 mg QE /g respectively which were calculated base on quercetin standard. On the other hand, the total phenol and flavonoid content from karimenga rhizome extracted by each organic solvent were 240.32 mg GAE/g, 139.02 mg GAE/g, 99.63 mg GAE/g, 105.57 mg GAE/g, and 63.06 mg QE /g, 48.35 mg QE /g, 43.07 mg QE /g, 31.78 mg QE /g,...