Effects of Drying Techniques and Different Solvents on Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Carica papaya Seed Extracts: Implications for Industrial Use and Medicinal Benefits

Abstract

Plant has always been of immense health benefits to humanity because, plant contains different parts that have been found to have various medicinal and industrial values. Therefore, plants play a crucial role in obtaining their most effective extracts for medical and industrial applications. The primary components of these preparations involve the extraction and drying methods. Carica papaya is a plant that is known to have different parts with numerous and unexplored medicinal and industrial benefits. Thus, this study investigated the effects of drying techniques and different extracting solvents on the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of Carica papaya seeds extract using standard analytical procedures. The results showed that drying technique has significant effect (p < 0.05) on the phytochemical composition of the C. papaya seeds with air-drying at room temperature having the highest amount of total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, saponin content and antioxidant activity when compared to other techniques. Hexane extracted the highest amount of total phenolic compounds (121.08 mg/GAE/100 g). Diethyl ether extracted the highest amount of total flavonoid and saponin content while polar solvents (aqueous and ethanol) extracts have the highest amount of antioxidant activity. This study showed that air drying at room temperature is a good method of preservation of the phytochemicals present in medicinal plants and that stereochemistry and structural diversity of compounds determine the efficiency of their extraction in any solvent. Furthermore, the highlighted phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of C. papaya seed extracts could be of immense benefits in various industries and for medicinal purposes.