Investigation of phytochemicals and antioxidant capacity of selected Eucalyptus species using conventional extraction

Abstract

AbstractEucalyptus species have found their place in traditional medicine and pharmacological research and they have also been shown to possess a large number of phenolic compounds and antioxidants. The present study sought to implement conventional extraction to yield maximal total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), proanthocyanidins, antioxidants, and saponins from E. robusta using different solvents. The most suitable extraction solvent was further employed for extracting phytochemicals from E. saligna, E. microcorys, and E. globulus to select the Eucalyptus species with the greatest bioactive compound content. The results emphasised the efficiency of water in extracting TPC ((150.60 ± 2.47) mg of gallic acid equivalents per g), TFC ((38.83 ± 0.23) mg of rutin equivalents per g), proanthocyanidins ((5.14 ± 0.77) mg of catechin equivalents per g), and antioxidants ABTS ((525.67 ± 1.99) mg of trolox equivalents (TE) per g), DPPH ((378.61 ± 4.72) mg of TE per g); CUPRAC ((607.43 ± 6.69) mg of TE per g) from E. robusta. Moreover, the aqueous extract of E. robusta had the highest TPC, TFC and antioxidant values among the other Eucalyptus species tested. These findings highlighted the efficiency of conventional extraction in extracting natural bioactive compounds from Eucalyptus species for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.