Bioprospecting of the underutilized endemic taxon Cissus woodrowii (Stapf ex Cooke) Santapau for its antioxidant activity and phenolic profiling

Abstract

The present study explored the antioxidant potential of endemic <em>Cissus woodrowii </em>(CW) which is an underutilised tree taxon of the Vitaceae family. Maximum per cent yield (13.49%), total phenolic content (24.14 mg TAE/g dry weight), and total flavonoid content (18.45 mg QE/g dry weight) were recorded in the methanolic leaf extract. Whereas the <em>in vitro</em> antioxidant activities of different extracts were assessed using 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl, nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide percent radical scavenging activity (% RSA), antioxidant power assay (ferric-reducing antioxidant power), and total antioxidant capacity (phosphomolybdate assay). Antioxidant activity of CW extract may be due to its high level of phenolic compounds, which were screened through liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), and the selected three phenolic compounds were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The HPLC analysis revealed a higher concentration of gallic acid (119.78 µg/g dry weight), followed by quercetin (22.13 µg/g dry weight) and embelin (21.09 µg/g dry weight). This is the first report on this underexplored taxon which could be employed for the development of several nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals.