Effect of Physalis angulata L. Leaves on Free Radicals: Antioxidant Study

Background and Objective: Physalis angulata is used in ethnomedicine for the treatment of numerous diseases. The free radical scavenging effect of Physalis angulataL. leaves ethanolic extract and extract fractions (n-butanol, ethyl acetate and n-hexane fractions) was determined in this study. Materials and Methods: Free radicals and antioxidant properties of Physalis angulataL. leaves ethanolic extract and extract fractions were investigated using in vitromodel. Total phenol, flavonoid, total antioxidant capacity, 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), nitric oxide and 2,2-Azino-Bis-3-Ethylbenzothiazoline-6-Sulphonic Acid (ABTS) assays were carried out using the spectrophotometric method. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Dunnett post hoc tests at 95% level of significance (p<0.05) and n = 5 (sample size) were used for statistical analysis. Results: The Physalis angulataleaves ethanolic extract and extract fractions exerted free radical scavenging properties. The ethyl acetate fraction showed a higher (significant at p<0.05) total antioxidant, (55.71 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g of extract), flavonoid (37.88 mg quercetin equivalent/g of extract) and phenol (48.14 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of extract) content when compared with the other extracts. Ethyl acetate extract fraction also had the highest (significant at p<0.05), DPPH (77.87%), ABTS (56.63%) and nitric oxide (56.28%) free radicals scavenging effect when compared with the other plant extracts. Conclusion: The Physalis angulataleaves ethanolic extract and extract fractions exerted free radicals scavenging activities and it could be explored as a medicine for the treatment of diseases caused by free radicals.