Asian Journal of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Acalypha indica is a plant found in many parts of Africa and Asia. The plant is used for the treatment of many respiratory diseases, management of cancers, diabetes and other diseases. The leaves of Acalypha indica were harvested, washed and shade dried. They were later extracted with methanol. The methanolic extract of Acalypha indica was subjected to DPPH radical scavenging assay, total antioxidant and HPLC quantification of phenols and flavonoids. The result showed a percentage yield of 5.72 %. Also the antioxidant capacity of Acalypha indicia based on the phosphomolybdenum method showed 13.60 ± 0.21 mg AAE/g extract. The DPPH radical scavenging potential of Acalypha indica showed that at 100 – 1000 µg/ml, the extract of Acalypha indica inhibited 7.2 ± 0.35 – 65.13 ± 1.53 % of DPPH radical as compared with standard gallic acid. The phenolics and flavonoids detected through HPLC are shown in Table 3. The phenolics and polyphenols with higher quantity in Extract of Acalypha indica are naringenin (169.91 mg/100 g), gallic acid (131.51 mg/100 g), rutin (76.72 mg/100 g), syringic acid (35.75 mg/100 g), ferulic acid (30.10 mg/100 g) and quercetin (11.36 mg/100 g). The results showed that Acalypha indica possesses antiradical, total antioxidant properties including a wide range of phenols and polyphenols. Therefore the extract can be a source of dietary supplement. This plant extract is a source of medicine if further research is applied.