Fruits of Sonneratia apetala (Buch.-Ham.) are widely used as food and in treating various diseases in the tropical coastal areas. This study evaluated nutrient compositions in the pericarp and seed of this fruit. Each pericarp and seed was successively fractionated into n-hexane, diethyl ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol. Polyphenols contents and antioxidant activities of different pericarp and seed fractions were measured in different in vitro methods and phenolic compounds were determined by HPLC. Carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and ash contents were 29.6, 8.8, 2.8, and 25.5% of dry weight in pericarp, whereas 28.3, 11.5, 4.2, and 22.7% in seed, respectively. Among the mineral macro-elements, K content was the highest followed by Na, Ca, Mg, P, and S while in micro-elements, Fe was at the largest followed by Mn, Zn, and Cu. The methanol fraction of seed showed the highest polyphenols content (221.9 mg gallic acid equivalent/g fraction), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (IC50 = 2.1 μg/m...

Nutrient Compositions, Antioxidant Activity, and Common Phenolics of Sonneratia apetala (Buch.-Ham.) Fruit

Cooking is the major method of consumption of the edible mangrove fruit of Sonneratia apetala (Buch.-Ham.). Effects of cooking methods-autoclaving, boiling, microwaving, pressure cooking and steaming on total polyphenol contents and antioxidant activities of both fresh and dried-stored seeds and pericarps of the fruits were studied. All the methods significantly (p < 0.01) enhanced total polyphenol contents, reducing power and total antioxidant capacity of both fresh and stored seeds on cooking for 20 min. Cooking for 20 min released two times higher amount of polyphenols from fresh seeds than from stored seeds. DPPH free radical scavenging activity of fresh seeds decreased at 2, 5 and 10 min cooking but increased the activity of stored seeds at 5, 10 and 20 min significantly. Cooking of both fresh and stored seeds significantly showed the higher contents of total polyphenol, DPPH scavenging, reducing power and total antioxidant capacity than pericarps did. In general, 20 min cooking is essential to obtain the highest amount of polyphenols and antioxidants from the fruit. No cooking method showed more significant advantages than the others. However, heat and pressure-tolerant polyphenols and antioxidants of S. apetala seeds might be used in food industries to produce functional foods and dietary supplements.

Effects of cooking methods at different time durations on total phenolics and antioxidant activities of fresh and dried-stored fruits of Sonneratia apetala (Buch.-Ham.).

Potential antioxidant and antibacterial activity of methanolic, chloroformic and n-hexane leaf extracts of four local important medicinal plants like Ocimum americanum, O. basilicum, O. gratissimum and Centella asiatica was investigated. The methanolic leaf extracts of these plant species exhibited the potent DPPH free radical scavenging activity (IC50 value, 2.67 ± 0.01, 14.17 ± 0.11, 60.22 ± 0.01 and 2.39 ± 0.025 μg/ml, respectively). Methanolic leaf extract of C. asiatica showed strongest antioxidant activity. Chloroformic leaf extracts possessed moderate antioxidant activity (IC50 value of 79.44 ± 0.05, 110.56 ± 0.02, 54.95 ± 0.05, 101.0 ± 1.0 μg/ml, respectively) in all samples. The lowest antioxidant activity was recorded from n-hexane leaf extracts of O. americanum, O. gratissimum, C. asiatica and Ocimum basilicum (IC50 value 147.87 ± 0.06, 378.19 ± 2.65, 104.65 ± 0.39, 467.58 ± 0.52 μg/ml, respectively). Methanolic and chloro-formic leaf extracts showed antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria, namely Bacillus megaterium, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi. Methanolic leaf extract of O. americanum and chloroformic extract of C. asiatica showed excellent antimicrobial activity.
Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 30(2): 179-187, 2020 (December)

Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Four Local Medicinal Plants

Ten edible fruits of the Sunderbans’ mangrove forest in Bangladesh were analyzed to compare their physicochemical, nutritional and antioxidant properties. Among the fruits, the lowest pH of 4.2 was observed in Sonneratia caseolaris whereas the rest remains within 6.1 to 7.1. The highest electrical conductivity (596.3 μS/cm), total dissolved solid (298.2 ppm) and ash content (0.26%) were recorded in the fruit of Phoenix paludosa. Carbohydrate, protein, lipid and vitamin C contents were the highest in Avicennia officinalis, Ceriops decandra, Heritiera fomes and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza fruits, respectively. In these fruits, the most abundant macro and micro-elements were K and Fe, respectively. C. decandra showed the highest content of polyphenols (58.5 mg GAE, gallic acid equivalent/g powder), flavonoids (86.4 mg CE, (+)-catechin equivalent/g powder) and anthocyanins (0.39 μmol/g powder). C. decandra also showed the strongest DPPH free radicals scavenging, reducing power, and total antioxidant capacity. Noticeably, total polyphenols showed their strong correlation to total flavonoids (r = 0.90), anthocyanins (r = 0.81), reducing power (r = 0.98) and total antioxidant capacity (r = 0.88) of the fruits. Fruits of C. decandra, therefore, should be considered as a potential source of antioxidants followed by H. fomes and P. paludosa. Introduction The Sundarbans’ is the single largest contiguous tracts of mangrove forest in the world which is situated in the South-Western region of Bangladesh. Among the edible fruits in the Sundarbans’, S. apetala is consumed largely in coastal areas in Bangladesh followed by S. caseolaris and N. fruticans. Previous reports showed polyphenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins contents, nutrient compositions, antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antidiarrheal, analgesic and cytotoxic activities in S. apetala fruit (Hossain et al. 2013, 2016, 2017). Hossain et al. (2013, 2016) recommended that S. apetala fruits should be cultivated in the tidal sea-water intruded vast tropical coastal regions of the world for the purposes of food security, primary health care, environmental protection, income generation and for preparing functional foods or dietary supplements. Fruits of S. caseolaris are also popular, and non-toxic (Chen et al. 2009), soft in texture having specific flavors, and good taste, and thus various food products, such as syrup (Abeywickrama and Jayasooriya 2010), cakes and steamed pudding (Brown 2006) have been produced from it. Brown (2006) also reported the preparation of different recipes using the fruits of Avicennia sp., N. fruticans, B. gymnorrhiza etc. People adjacent to the Sundarbans’ also largely consume the inner endosperm of N. fruticans. Prasad et al. (2013) evaluated phenolics and antioxidant in endosperms of N. fruticans. Fruits of P. paludosa are eaten to some extent, and reportedly, they are used as a coffee substitute. *Author for correspondence: <sjhossain_ku@yahoo.com>; <sjhossainbgeku@gmail.com>. Institute of Food Science and Technology, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

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Comparison of physicochemical and antioxidant properties of edible fruits in the Sundarbans’ mangrove forest, Bangladesh

In the present study, antibacterial and antioxidant (DPPH free radical scavenging activity) activity of an edible mushroom, Agaricus bisporus collected from Pakistan was investigated. In antibacterial assays, nhexane showed 4.83, 3.33, 16 and 3.33 mm inhibition zone diameter (IZD), chloroform showed 6.33, 16.17, 17 and 1.67 mm (IZD) while, ethyl acetate exhibited 30, 20, 19 and 28.67 mm (IZD) against four test plant pathogenic bacteria viz., Pseudomonas syringae Van Hall, Ralstonia solanacearum Yabuuchi et al. Xanthomonas axonopodis Dowson and Erwinia carotovora (Jones) Waldee, at 100 mg/ml concentration. Optical density (OD) was recorded at 517 nm. n-hexane extract showed 60.73, 47.6 and 33.05%, chloroform showed 89.97, 82.91 and 77.68% whereas, ethyl acetate exhibited 89.83, 65.82 and 23.59% free radical effects as compared to control. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis showed the highest concentration of mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate.

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Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of Agaricus bisporus (J.E. Lange) imbach from Pakistan

Amount of polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins in ethanol extracts and antioxidant activity of both ethanol and lipophilic extracts of common leafy vegetables in Bangladesh were compared. Among the 12 leafy vegetables, Ipomoea aquatica Forssk. showed the highest content of total polyphenols (38.9 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g extract) and flavonoids (23.2 mg (+)-catechin equivalent (CE)/g extract). Highest anthocyanins content was found in Amaranthus gangeticus L. (1.15 μmol/g extract) followed by Pisum sativum L. (0.85 μmol/g extract). Ethanol extracts of Brassica campestris L., Enhydra fluctuans Lour., I. aquatica , Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl. and P. sativum exhibited high DPPH free radical scavenging activity with IC 50 of 104.2, 85.5, 26.9, 125 and 68.5 μg/ml, respectively whereas for the same lipophilic pentane extracts of Basella alba L. showed the lowest (68.4 μg/ml) IC 50 followed by I. aquatica (70.4 μg/ml), E. fluctuans (75.7 μg/ml), L. siceraria (78.3 μg/ml) and B. campestris (80.6 μg/ml). I. aquatica also showed the highest NO free radical scavenging followed by B. campestris and B. alba . Highest reducing power (O.D. = 1.7) was observed for I. aquatica followed by P. sativum (O.D. = 1.12), B. alba (O.D. = 0.86) and L. siceraria (O.D. = 0.72) at 400 μg/ml extract. They also displayed high total antioxidant capacity. Therefore, the top five potential leafy vegetables consist of both hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant(s), the order being I. aquatica > B. campestris > B. alba > P. sativum > and L. siceraria . DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v44i1.22723 Bangladesh J. Bot. 44 (1): 51-57, 2015 (March)

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S Amir Hossain

Papers

Antioxidant potential of common leafy vegetables in bangladesh