In vitro antioxidant and radical scavenging of Guinean kinkeliba leaf (Combretum micranthum G. Don) extracts.

The antioxidant properties of the water and ethanol leaf extracts of kinkeliba (Combretum micranthum) were investigated, including scavenging of the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical (IC₅₀ values: 8.02 ± 0.34 for the ethanol extract [KE] and 9.1 ± 0.28 for the water extract [KW]), the 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical (IC(50) values: 7.4 ± 0.14 for KE and 11.8 ± 0.01 for KW) and the hydroxyl radical (58.1% for KE and 61.1% for KW). The ferric thiocyanate method, reducing power, metal chelating activity, an assay of protein oxidation and the β-carotene-linoleic bleaching assay were also used. Butylated hydroxytoluene and ascorbic acid were used as the reference antioxidant compounds. At 20 mg mL⁻¹ concentration, KW and KE provided 36.8% and 75.1% inhibition of lipid peroxidation of linoleic acid emulsion, respectively. The IC₅₀ values of the ethanol extract in ABTS and DPPH tests were significantly lower than those from the water extract. Furthermore, crude polyphenols were extracted from kinkeliba leaf with 90% ethanol solution using a water bath treatment and then purified by a macroporous resin, AB-8. The polyphenols from kinkeliba leaf were subjected to analyses by RP-HPLC and ESI-MS. The dominant polyphenols in kinkeliba leaf were identified as gallic acid, rutin trihydrate, (+)-catechin and benzoic acid.