Total Phenolics Content/Antioxidant Potential of 8 Selected Plants in Southern Nigeria

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In modern times, foods rich in phenolics and flavonoid from natural sources with antioxidant properties have gained serious attention in the nutrition and food science world, hence the purpose of this research was to investigate the phenolic content of the leaves of (Vernonia amygdalina, mangifera indica, denneltia tripetala, azadirachta indica, citrus sinensis, chromoalaena odorata, anacardium occidentale, telferia occidental) obtained from the southern part of Nigeria. The phenolic content was determined using the Folin-Ciocaltean reagent and their various absorbances were read at 750nm using a spectrophotometer. From the results obtained, Mangifera indica exhibited the highest phenolic content with a concentration of (31.49mg/g) Gallic Acid Equivalent (GAE) and hence has the highest potential of antioxidant activity while the least phenolic content concentration was recorded from Denneltia tripetala with a concentration of (3mg/g) GAE amongst the plant samples studied. In this study, the evaluation of total phenolics in these plants suggests that edible leaves of some plants with high phenolic values can be an important source of natural antioxidants for the possible reduction or prevention of lethal oxidation in nutraceuticals or medicines for the management of illnesses associated with free radicals.