Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory and Antibacterial Activities of the Seeds of A Sri Lankan Variety of Carica Papaya
Akshani Anjula Wijesooriya
, Srianthie A. Deraniyagala and Chamari M. Hettiarachchi*Department of Chemistry, University of Colombo, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka.
Corresponding Author E-mail: chamarih@chem.cmb.ac.lk
Abstract: Plant based remedies are of much importance in healthcare due to low side effects. The effective constituents contained in seeds of a papaya have not been utilized efficiently in the production of medicines. The purpose of this study was driven towards determining the total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, antioxidant capacity, anti-inflammatory activity and antibacterial properties of the aqueous seeds extract of a Sri Lankan variety (Red Lady) of papaya (AESP). The AESP prepared according to the method of “Kasaya” in Ayurvedic medicine was used for the investigations according to standard procedures. Total phenolic content and the total flavonoid content of the AESP were 13.5±2.2 mg (pyrogallol equivalence)/g and 315.9±104.6 mg (quercetin equivalence)/g respectively. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity of AESP ranged from 12.4% to 81.2% for concentrations of 1.0-20.0 mg/ml; ascorbic acid gave 31.7% - 91.9% activity. The AESP displayed strong reducing power compared to ascorbic acid in the reducing power assay. The hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of the AESP ranged from 6.6% to 69.1% for concentrations ranging from 20.0-95.0 mg/ml; ascorbic acid activity was 37.7%-74.9%. The nitric oxide radical scavenging activity of AESP was 23.9%-62.7% for concentrations of 2.0-20.0 µg/ml; ascorbic acid gave 26.8%-63.5% activity. AESP concentrations ranging from 75.0-150.0 µg/ml exhibited human red blood cell (HRBC) membrane stabilization protection of 15.5%-22.7% compared to 50.8%-58.4% for aspirin. The AESP showed antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus bacterial species. AESP possess promising antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity. The aqueous decoction of the discarded seeds of papaya would facilitate remedies for many diseases in which radicals are implicated as well as assist against certain bacterial infections and also has an anti-inflammatory potential.
Keywords: Anti-Inflammatory Activity; Antibacterial Activity; Antioxidant Activity; Carica Papaya Back to TOC