IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND NITRIC OXIDE SCAVENGING ACTIVITIES OF PIPER GUINEENSE SEEDS

Piper guineense is a pepper widely consumed in some parts of West Africa especially Nigeria and Ghana on account of its nutritional and medicinal properties. Indigenous people value the plant for its ethno-medical uses, as well as its food spicing capabilities. In this study, the seeds of the fruits were accessed for phyto-chemical constituents, using spectro-photometric standard assays. The antioxidant activity was accessed by determining its ability to scavenge the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, superoxide ion radical and nitric oxide radical. The results showed that, the seeds were rich in flavonoids, flavonols and phenolic compounds. Total phenols were estimated at 1.16 mg gallic acid equivalents while flavonoids were 1.28 mg rutin equivalents. The seeds showed maximum inhibition of DPPH. radical of 66.4% at 500 μg/ml as compared to ascorbic acid, which inhibited 77.4% at the same concentration. Superoxide anion inhibition was maximally 70% at 1000 μg/ml as compared to rutin, which inhibited 99.35% at the same concentration.