Effectiveness of avocado leaf extract (Persea americana Mill.) as antihypertensive

Abstract

Background Long-term chemical drug consumption to treat hypertension may have side effects because the levels are sometimes difficult for the body to tolerate. Therefore, some people have used plants as herbal medicine, including avocado leaves (Persea americana Mill.) as antihypertensive. This study aims to find out the differences in the effectiveness of modern drugs and natural antihypertensive ingredients in avocado leaf extract (containing flavonoids and quercetin compounds) in inhibiting the ACE enzyme, which causes decreasing systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) as well as increasing urine volume. Methods This study used an experimental in vivo study design involving 24 white male Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus), aged 2–3 months, weighing 130–250 g, and of a healthy condition with active movement. The samples were randomly divided into six treatment groups and post-test only research design with control group design. Results The result of the study showed that avocado leaf extract was effective in reducing blood pressure in Wistar rats with hypertension induced by 16% NaCl for 14 days. SBP fell from 164.92 mmHg to 116.83 mmHg and DBP from 118.42 mmHg to 82.83 mmHg. One-way ANOVA test value significance SBP p=0.000 and Kruskal–Wallis test value of DBP p=0.030, Kruskal–Wallis test urine volume value of p=0.002. The statistical test results proved that avocado leaf extract significantly reduced the blood pressure and increased the urine volume in hypertensive rats. The ACE inhibitor test, performed using an ELISA, showed that the extract inhibition against the ACE enzyme was 60.0±12.1%, serum nitrate levels 41.1±11.5. The decrease in blood pressure occurred because the extract contained a quercetin compound discovered by the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method of 1129.597 ppm. Conclusions The study showed that the leaf extract of Persea americana Mill. was effective as an antihypertensive.