Antioxidant Properties Evaluation of Trunk's Barks of 10 Plants used in Traditional Medicine against Hepatic Pathologies

Aims: Herbal remedies are known for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activities of the aqueous extracts of the bark of the trunk of 10 medicinal plants used in traditional medicine for the management of hepatic pathologies. This is Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. ex Delile (Fabaceae – Mimosoideae), Adansonia digitata L. (Bombacaceae), Bombax costatum Pellegr. & Vuill. (Bombacaceae), Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile (Balanitaceae), Cassia sieberiana DC. (Fabaceae – Caesalpinioideae), Piliostigma reticulatum (DC.) Hochst. (Fabaceae – Caesalpinioideae) Tamarindus indica L. (Fabaceae – Caesalpinioideae), Daniellia oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch. & Dalziel (Fabaceae – Caesalpinioideae), Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A.Juss. (Meliaceae) and Gymnosporia senegalensis (Lam.) Loes.) (Celastraceae)..

Methodology: In this study, the total phenolic and flavonoid content of the aqueous extracts of the trunk bark of 10 plants were determined and their antioxidant activities by the DPPH and FRAP methods were evaluated. The link between phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity was sought through a regression curve.

Results: Acacia nilotica had the best contents of total phenolics and flavonoids respectively with 21.28 ± 0.18 g ETA / 100 g DM and 0.207 ± 0.003 g EQ / 100 g DM. For the evaluation of antioxidant activity, Acacia nilotica also gave the best activities by the DPPH method with a percent inhibition of 1.08 ± 0.03 AAE and a reducing capacity of Fe3 + to Fe2 + of 0.107 ± 0.03 AAE. A strong correlation was found between FRAP and total phenolics (r2 = 0.9559).

Conclusion: This study shows that all the plants used for the treatment of liver pathologies had an interesting antioxidant capacity but among these 07 plants had the best activities. In-depth studies on the anti-inflammatory and even hepatoprotective activity of these extracts would justify their use in traditional medicine.