Evaluation of the antioxidant potential and aglycone coumarins contents of ethereal extracts of 4 medicinal plants from Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

Spectrophotometric determination of aglycone coumarins at the maximum wavelength of 275 nm was performed on the ethereal extracts of the leaves of Zanthoxylum gilletii (ZG), Dichrostachys cinerea (DC), Vernonia amygdalina (VA) and Morinda lucida (ML), four plant species used in the trade therapy of various ailments in Côte d’Ivoire. ZG leaves with a value of 22.5692±0.0007 mg EC/g recorded the highest content of total aglycone coumarins, followed by VA (14.8808±0.0002 mg EC/g), ML (11.0068±0.0004 mg EC/g) and DC (8.9354±0.0006 mg EC/g) leaves. On the other hand, the ethereal extracts of the leaves of the four plants exhibited significant antioxidant efficacy, with CR50 of 0.024010±7x10-6 % mg/mL for ZG, 0.01789±0.3x10-5 % mg/mL for DC, 0.01995±0.2x10-5 % mg/mL for VA, and 0.04831±0.3x10-5% for ML compared to that of vitamin C (0.016150±0.3x10-6 %). Thus, the pharmacological properties of these plant species of the Ivorian flora would be due to their richness in coumarins.