Antioxidant activitiy of bitter leaves (Vernonia amygdalina) extract coated with the nanochitosan derived from parrot fish (Scarus sp) scales

Abstract

Abstract Vernonia amygdalina is traditionally used in various folk medicines as remedies against many diseases due to its antioxidant compounds. The ability of these compounds could be reduced during absorption process. Chitosan nanoparticles as drug carriers have the advantages of protecting bioactive compounds of the extract. Nanochitosan was prepared from the parrot fish (Scarus sp) scales, using ionic gelation method. Extraction of bitter leaves was performed by maceration method using 96%. ethanol The nanochitosan coated extracts were prepared into 2 groups, with the ratio of nanochitosan and extract of 1:1 (BLENC 1) and 2:1 (BLENC 2), respectively. The antioxidant activity of the two groups with different concentrations (10 to 50 μg/ml) and the control (BLE) was measured using DPPH test for the parameter of inhibition values. Results show that the BLENC 2 with concentration of 50 μg/ml has higher inhibition value (89.1%) than the 50 μg/ml concentration of BLE and BLENC 1. The inhibiton value of all samples were in range of very strong antioxidant category with the IC50 ranged from 8.98 to 22.25 μg/ml. Linear regression of the concentration against inhibition value graph shows that correlation was found to be in BLENC 2 (R2=0.828).