Antioxidant and cytotoxicity activity of Cordia africana in Sudan

Abstract

Cordia africana Lam. (family- Boraginaceae) is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree, 4 to 15 (30) m high, heavily branched with a spreading, umbrella-shaped or rounded crown. Bole typically curved or crooked. Bark grayish-brown to dark brown, smooth in young trees, but soon becoming rough and longitudinally fissured with age; young branchlets with sparse long. Uses of C. africana: firewood, timber (furniture, beehives, boxes, mortars, church, drums), food (fruit), medicine (bark, roots), fodder (leaves), bee forage, mulch, soil conservation, ornamental, shade. The present study was conducted to investigate the in-vitro antioxidant (DPPH assay) and cytotoxic (brine shrimp) of different parts (leaves, stem, park and fruit) of C. africana. The different parts of C. africana was screened for antioxidant screening for their free radical scavenging properties using 2.2Di (4-tert-octylphenyl)-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), while propyl galate was used as standard antioxidant and screened for their cytotoxicity using brine shrimp. The inhibition percentage of antioxidant against (DPPH assay) varied from (37 ± 0.10 to 95 ± 0.00% RSA). The test of cytotoxicity was done using brine shrimp lethality, verified the toxic extracts except stem by water and leaves by methanol and water extracts. This study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity (brine shrimp) of C. africana.

Keywords: Cordia africana, antioxidant activity, brine shrimp.