Background Carissa bispinosa, Ficus sycomorus, and Grewia bicolar are edible fruit plants that grow in the wild. The plants produce yellow-, red-, and purple-colored fruits and thus can be good sources of flavonoids for fighting oxidative reactions in humans, food, and the pharmaceutical industry. The present study aimed at isolating flavonoids from C. bispinosa, F. sycomorus, and G. bicolar fruits and determining their antioxidant activity using the 2, 2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2, 2-azino-bis 3-ethylbenz-thiaz-oline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) model radical assays. Methods Analytical and preparative thin-layer chromatography was used to isolate flavonoids from the fruits using methanol/chloroform/hexane (7:2:1, v/v/v) as a mobile phase system. The ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging methods were used to test for the antioxidant activity of the samples, using quercetin and catechin as reference standards. Results Thin-layer chromatographic profiling revealed two different types of flavonoids from each plant. C. bispinosa yielded two flavonoid bands, Rf values 0.11 and 0.38; G. bicolar yielded two flavonoid bands, Rf values 0.63 and 0.81; and F. sycomorus also yielded two types of flavonoids, Rf values 0.094 and 0.81. All the extracted flavonoids exhibited significant antioxidant activity of over 80% at a concentration of 200 mg/L. The order of radical scavenging activity for the 200-mg/L samples is G. bicolar Rf (0.81) > C. bispinosa Rf (0.113) > F. sycomorus Rf (0.094) > F. sycomorus Rf (0.047) > C. bispinosa Rf (0.38) > G. bicolar Rf (0.63). G. bicolar (Rf = 0.81) exhibited antioxidant activity that was superior to that of catechin. Conclusion The present study results show that C. bispinosa, F. sycomorus, and G. bicolar contain different flavonoid types with significant antioxidant activity of over 80% at a concentration of 200 mg/L. Therefore, the fruits can be used as a source of natural antioxidants which can be used as nutraceuticals to promote health, as preservatives to delay peroxidation of foods, and as flavoring for packed foods.

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Phytosterols of manketti (Schinziophyton rautanenii) nut oil extracted by Soxhlet, mechanical shaking using hexane, screw press and supercritical carbon dioxide, were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The presence of several phytosterols (campesterol, stigmasterol, β‐sitosterol, Δ5‐avenasterol, 22‐dihydrospinasterol and Δ7‐avenasterol) previously reported in manketti oil, was confirmed. In addition, another fourteen phytosterols (lanosterol, Δ5,23‐stigmastadienol, Δ7‐campesterol, clerosterol, obtusifoliol, Δ5,24(25)‐stigmastadienol, α‐amyrin, gramisterol, cycloeucalenol, cycloartenol, stigmasta‐8,24‐dienol‐3‐β‐ol, 28‐methylobtusifoliol, 24‐methylenecycloartenol and citrostadienol) were identified. The phytosterols, β‐sitosterol, Δ5‐avenasterol and campesterol, had the highest concentrations in oils extracted by all the methods, whereas stigmasterol and cycloartenol were abundant in oils extracted by mechanical shaking and supercritical carbon dioxide. Total phytosterols and the quantities of individual phytosterols differed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) in oils from the four extraction methods. Mechanical shaking extracted the highest levels of total sterols (22,100 mg/100 g oil), followed by supercritical fluid extraction (9,550 mg/100 g oil). Screw press and Soxhlet extracted oils contained the lowest levels of total sterols, 3,810 mg/100 g oil and 3,350 mg/100 g oil, respectively.

Phytochemicals from Dicerocaryum senecioides were studied for hair rejuvenation activity using BalB/c mice. Solvent extractions and thin layer chromatography (TLC) were used to extract and isolate the phytochemicals respectively. Phytochemicals were identi ed by spraying with target-speci c revealing reagents. In vivo hair growth stimulating activity for each extract was tested on denuded dorsal skin of 5-week old BalB/c mice against the controls and the standard drug minoxidil. e parameters used to evaluate hair growth were hair growth completion time, hair length, hair weight, hair follicle length, and relative hair follicle area. e identi ed phytochemicals from the active ethanol extract were steroidal glycosides, triterpenoid glycosides, and avonoid glycosides. Flavonoid glycosides treatment had the uppermost hair rejuvenation capacity as measured by the shortest hair growth completion time (19 days) versus control (29 days) and longest hair length (11.04 mm and 11.86 mm for male and female mice respectively while the control group had 5.15 mm for male mice and 5.33 mm for female mice). Hair growth stimulation by avonoid glycosides was also dependent on dose concentration. It can be concluded from this study that avonoid glycosides extracted from the leaves of Dicerocaryum senecioides have remarkable hair rejuvenation capacity in BalB/c mice. e present results provides insights on the use of Dicerocaryum senecioides for hair rejuvenation in traditional practices and on the potential of the plant as a source of novel compounds that can be used as hair growth promoters.