Ultrasound‐Assisted Extraction, Optimization, Phytochemical Screening and Analysis of Phenolics from Cycas Zeylanica and Antioxidant Activity Evaluation

Abstract

The present study focuses on investigating the phytochemical screening of indigenous species, C. zeylanica, for the first time. The leaf extracts have been prepared using ultrasound‐assisted methods to obtain the best extraction results using different time and temperature conditions such as 30, 60, and 90 min. and 30, 40, and 60 °C, respectively. The results have been optimized using response surface methodology. Under the optimal extraction conditions of 60 °C for 43.57 minutes, an extract was produced with a yield of 0.238 g and a high total phenolic content of 181.1965 mg GAE/g. The total phenolic content has been evaluated and the presence of gallic acid has been confirmed through the HPLC technique. The optimal extract (OE) showed excellent antioxidant activity for the DPPH assay, with an IC50 of 3.1 µg/ml. Finally, GC‐MS profiling has been done to screen the volatile component of the plant extract.