Bioprospecting of the underutilized endemic taxon Cissus woodrowii (Stapf ex Cooke) Santapau for its antioxidant activity and phenolic profiling

Abstract

The present study explored the antioxidant potential of endemic Cissus woodrowii (CW) which is an underutilised tree taxon of the Vitaceae family. Maximum per cent yield (13.49%), total phenolic content (24.14 mg TAE/g dry weight), and total flavonoid content (18.45 mg QE/g dry weight) were recorded in the methanolic leaf extract. Whereas the in vitro antioxidant activities of different extracts were assessed using 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl, nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide percent radical scavenging activity (% RSA), antioxidant power assay (ferric-reducing antioxidant power), and total antioxidant capacity (phosphomolybdate assay). Antioxidant activity of CW extract may be due to its high level of phenolic compounds, which were screened through liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), and the selected three phenolic compounds were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The HPLC analysis revealed a higher concentration of gallic acid (119.78 µg/g dry weight), followed by quercetin (22.13 µg/g dry weight) and embelin (21.09 µg/g dry weight). This is the first report on this underexplored taxon which could be employed for the development of several nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals.