Phytochemical Screening and In Vitro Antioxidant Activity of Extracts of Ipomoea purpurea Leaves from Iran

Abstract

Nowadays, the use of medicinal herbs and derivatives to improve the development of multifunctional therapeutic agents is growing. The purpose of this study is to determine the antioxidant capacity of Ipomoea purpurea leaves that grows in Iran as well as the chemical composition of the leaves. Thus, using in vitro established procedures, the antioxidant capacity of organic and aqueous extracts of I. purpurea leaves was assessed. Further, the ethanol and chloroform extracts of I. purpurea leaves were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Concentration-dependent scavenging of 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazil (DPPH) was seen across all three extract types (ethanol, water, and chloroform) with the IC 50 values of 42.30 ± 2.35, 54.11 ± 3.62, and 85.71 ± 4.83 μg/mL, respectively which were higher compared to the positive control (ascorbic acid = 8.07 ± 0.30 μg/mL) and (butylated hydroxyanisole or BHA = 13.9 ± 0.54 μg/mL). The ferrous reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) of the extracts was in the following order: ethanol > aqueous > chloroform. As the ethanol extract exhibited higher levels of total phenols, (29.78 ± 0.11 mg gallic acid equivalent /100 g dry leaves weight), flavonoid (19.9 ± 3.98 mg catechin equivalent /100 g dry leaves weight), and steroids content (6.85 ± 0.07 mg steroids equivalent /100 g dry leaves weight) compared to chloroform extract. In addition, GC-MS research showed that the extracts of I. purpurea leaves contain a wide diversity of chemicals. Findings from this research revealed that I. purpurea leaves contain chemicals with excellent antioxidant and biological capabilities, which might be attributed to the existence of bioactive molecules and provide additional data for future research.