Phenolic Richness: Exploring Antioxidants in Apayao’s Indigenous Fruit Trees | InformativeBD

Maria Christina Z. Manicad, from the institute of Philippines. Agustina G. Pattung, from the institute of Philippines and Hannie T. Martin, from the institute of Philippines. wrote a Research article about, Phenolic Richness: Exploring Antioxidants in Apayao’s Indigenous Fruit Trees. Entitled, Total phenolic contents of selected indigenous fruit trees in Apayao. This research paper published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences | JBES. an open access scholarly research journal on Biodiversity. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the morphological characteristics, identity and total phenolic contents of three indigenous fruit trees in Apayao namely Namot, Bignai kalabaw and Lubeg. These lesser known trees were abundant in the region but were underutilized as very little information were available for its maximization. Results of the study showed that the Namot is the richest source of phenolics. Among the four (4) plant extracts, Namot leaves extracts showed the highest total phenolic contents at 1.06mg/g of the Gallic acid equivalent (GAE). The lowest phenolic contents were noticed in Bignai kalabaw (Antidesma bunius (L.) Spreng leaves at 0.71mg/g of the Gallic acid equivalent (GAE). The total phenolic contents of the extracts of lubeg fruits were found to be lower than the leaves at 0.99 and 1.05mg/g of the Gallic acid equivalent (GAE), respectively. Lubegbelongs to Family Myrtaceae under Phylum Magnoliophyta. The chemical composition of Lubeg leaves was high in steroids, tannins, and coumarins while its fruits were highly positive in quinones and flavonoids. It has anti-oxidant property, and anti-inflammatory. Phenolics are the largest group of phytochemicals that account for most of the antioxidant activity in plants or plant products. The total phenolic content will be helpful for developing new drugs and standardizing the drug. Gallic acid may occur in plants in soluble form either as quinic acid esters (5) or hydrolyzable tannins. The most important biological activity of phenolic compounds is probably their many observed inhibitory effects on mutagenesis and carcinogenesis.

Read more : Natural Dewormers: Anthelmintic Power of Star Apple and Guava Bark Extracts | InformativeBD

Introduction

The use of plants for varied purposes is undeniable. Today, many are using plants for health and wellness. As such, there is a growing interest to tap plants as sources of food supplements, medicines, dyes and many more. Molecules are unique to plants or a group of plants. These metabolites are used as food, flavors, color, dyes, and as raw materials for industrial products Plants are rich in a wide variety of secondary metabolites, such as terpenoids, alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids and tannins.

The presence of these metabolites is responsible for plant pigment and coloration. This group of compounds has received a great deal of attention in today’s recent years (Cowan, 1999). A revisit on the use of plant-derived commodities coming from nature is encouraged nowadays. With the recognition and promotion of plants, with modern use of standardized extraction and chemical analysis, it is now possible to identify and characterize the active ingredient of plants like phenolic contents.

Phenolic compounds act as essential metabolites for plant growth and reproduction, and as protecting agents against pathogens. In addition, they are related to the sensorial properties of food of vegetal origin, mainly regarding color (Mujica & Soto, 2009). A. Aberoumand & Deokule (2008) cited that these compounds one of the most widely occurring groups of phytochemicals are of considerable physiological and morphological importance in plants. Phenolic compounds exhibit a wide range of physiological properties, such as anti-allergenic, antiatherogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antioxidant, antithrombotic, cardioprotective and vasodilatory effects.

The Province of Apayao in Northern Cordillera is rich with various natural resources such as forest resources and agricultural resources, water resources, mineral resources and etc. With these rich resources, needs for food, shelter, medicines and the like come from the environment. The forests include various species of flora like trees, food plants, medicinal plants, veterinary plants, ornamental plants and etc.

These trees have developmental potentials if the biochemical ingredients will be discovered. Plants contain primary metabolites essential to the life of the plants like sugars, amino acids and nucleotides and secondary metabolites used as food, flavors, color, dyes, poisons, perfumes, aromatherapy, industrial products such as rubber, oils and prescription drugs, which contain at least one chemical originally identified and extracted from a plant (Cowan, 1999). The bioactive phytochemicals like total phenolic contents of these three indigenous fruit trees in Apayao namely namot, bignai kalabaw and lubeg,once analyzed can enhance their potential commercial values and utilization for better biodiversity conservation. This study was conducted to determine the morphological characteristics and identity of the three indigenous fruit trees in Apayao namely namot, bignai kalabaw and lubeg; and to determine the total phenolic contents of three indigenous fruit trees in Apayao.

Reference

Aberoumand A, Deokule SS. 2008. Comparison of phenolic compounds of some edible plants of Iran and India. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 7(4), 582-585.

Biju J, Sulaiman CT, Satheesh J, Reddy VRK. 2014. Total phenolics and Flavonoid in Selected Medicinal Plants from Kerala. International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 6(1), 2014.

Columna N. 2019. Morphological characterization and chemical composition of Lubeg (Philippine Cherry). J. Bio. Env. Sci. 14(5), 27-30, May 2019.

Cowan MM. 1999. Plant products as antimicrobial agents. Clinical Microbiol Rev. 1999 October 12(4), 564-582.

Hossain A, Sha M. 2011. A study on the total phenols content and antioxidant activity of essential oils and different solvent extracts of endemic plants Merremia borneensis. Arabian Journal of Chemistry.

Manicad, Maria Christina Z. 2017. Morphological Characterization and Physico chemical Evaluation of Lubeg Species in Apayao for Its Utilization and Conservation. Dissertation ISU Cabagan.

Mehrdad Abootalebian, Javad Keramat, Mahdi Kadivar, Farhad Ahmadia. Mahnaz Abdinia. 2016. Comparison of total phenolic and antioxidant activity of different Mentha spicata and M. longifolia accessions. https://doi.org/10. 1016/ j.aoas.2016.10.002.

Mujica MV, Granito M, Soto N. 2009. Importance of the extraction method in the quantification of total phenolic compounds in Phaseolus vulgaris L. Interciencia 34(9), 650-654.

NazishSiddiqui, Abdur Rau, Abdul Latif, Zeenat Mahmood. 2016.  Spectrophotometric determination of the total phenolic content, spectral and fluorescence study of the herbal Unani drug Gul-e-Zoofa (Nepeta bracteata Benth).

Singleton VL, Orthofer R, Lamuela-Raventos RM. 1999. Analysis of total phenols and other oxidation substrates and antioxidants by means of Folin-Ciocalteu Reagent. Methods in Enzymology 299, 152-178.

Source : Total phenolic contents of selected indigenous fruit trees in Apayao