Objective:
To
evaluate
the
free radical scavenging
ability
and
antiradical activities
of
Ximenia
caffra
fruit
extracts
in their different ripening stages.
Method
s:
Using standard procedures
,
Ximenia
caffra
fruit extracts were determined
for ferrous ion
s chelating ability, nitric oxide and
hydroxyl
radical scavenging ability
. Antiradical
activities were
assessed using 1
,1-diphenyl
-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH
) in which
the fruit extracts were
evaluated for the
number of antiradical units (AU
515
), the number of antiradical units per 1 mg of extracts (EAU
515
) and the t
otal number of
antiradical
unit
s per 1g of raw fruits
(TAU
515
Result
s:
The fruit extracts exhibited significant
higher
ferrous ion chelating and free radical
scavenging
capacity
compared to
synthetic
antioxidant
s
(standard
). Fruit extracts
in early
ripening stage
(ERS)
exhibit
ed
strong
er
ion chelation
, nitric oxide
and
hydroxyl
radical
scavenging ability with
low
effective fruit extract concentration require
d to reduce free radicals by 50
%
(EC
).
50
) that were
14, 25 and 30
μg
/ml
respectively
than
the
late
ripening
stage
(LRS)
extracts
. The fruit
extracts also showed
high
AU
515
, EAU
515
and
TAU
515
. The values
of
AU
515
ranged from 0.93 to 0.95,
while
EAU
515
from
78.30 to
79.34
and TAU
515
Conclusio
n:
Based on these observations
Ximenia
caffra
is potentially
beneficial
to human health due to its
strong
ability to scavenge
free radicals
.
Its
utilization
can potentially
reduce the risk of degen
erative
diseases
to human
beings.