The Journal of Phytopharmacology, 2018;7(2):134-140 ; DOI:10.31254/phyto.2018.7206
Characterization and anti-oxidant activity of Cucurbita maxima Duchesne pulp and seed extracts
Peninah Njoki Muchirah1 , Rebecca Waihenya2 , Shadrack Muya2 , Leila Abubakar3 , Hastings Ozwara4 , Anselimo Makokha5
1. Department of Medical Science, Faculty of Applied and Health Sciences, Technical University of Mombasa, Kenya
2. School of biological sciences, College of Pure and Applied Sciences, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
3. Department of Pure and Applied Science, Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, Technical University of Mombasa, Kenya
4. Department of Tropical and Infectious diseases, Institute of Primate Research, Kenya
5. Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 18th January, 2018 / Accepted: 3rd March, 2018
The study aimed to characterize phytochemical composition of C. maxima seeds and pulp. The ethanol and aqueous extract of C. maxima seeds and pulp were done using percolation method. The phytochemical composition of ethanol and aqueous extract were determined using methodology described by the association of official analytical chemists. Qualitative screening of both aqueous and ethanol seed and pulp extracts showed presence of alkaloids, flavanoids, phenolics, carbohydrates, tannins, saponins, terpenoids and proteins. The quantitative tests reported concentration of 0.336g/100g of phenols, 0.012g/100g flavanoids and 0.009g/100g tannins in seed aqueous extracts while 0.213g/100g, 0.175g/100g and 0.016/100g in pulp respectively. The levels of phenols, flavanoids and tannins reported in ethanol extracts were 0.277g/100g, 0.246g/100g and 0.010g/100g in pulp and 0.530g/100g, 0.252g/100g and 0.064g/100g in seed respectively. Saponins were present in ethanol extracts only. The percentage content of alkaloids was 4.9% in pulp and 5.97% in seed aqueous extracts while ethanol pulp and seed extracts was 9.49% and 9.74% respectively. All extracts showed significant levels of anti-oxidant activity at different concentration levels. The presence of these phytochemical compounds shows that C. maxima are a potential medicinal candidate that needs to be explored further for actual use as in pharmaceutical industry.
Cucurbita maxima Duchesne, phytochemical, percolation, anti-oxidation, qualitative screening, quantitative tests.
HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
Muchirah PN, Waihenya R, Muya S, Abubakar L, Ozwara H, Makokha A. Characterization and anti-oxidant activity of Cucurbita maxima Duchesne pulp and seed extracts. J Phytopharmacol 2018; 7(2):134-140.
Creative Commons (CC) License-
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0.