The screening of antioxidant activities and FTIR analysis of Christia Vespertilionis leaves extracts

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) or free radicals may be harmful to our body as it can cause many health problems. Antioxidants can act as radical scavengers to prevent these mechanisms. Christia vespertilionis or butterfly wings is widely found in South East Asia, traditionally used for many medical benefits. There are limited data that can be found about this plant from all possible scientific sources. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze multiple C. vespertilionis leaves extracts for its antioxidants’ capacity and infrared analysis. Five different extracts of different solvents viz, hexane, hexane: ethyl acetate, ethyl acetate, ethyl acetate: methanol, and methanol were obtained from C. vespertilionis leaves. All the extracts were assessed for 2, 2-diphenyl-1-pierylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging ability and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) followed by Fourier transform infrared analysis. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of ethyl acetate: methanol showed high radical scavenging activity with the lowest IC50 value of 0.549 ± 0.02 mg/mL compared to other extracts while ethyl acetate: hexane has the highest FRAP value of 271.67 ± 0.93 AAE µg ascorbic acid/g. The rapid FTIR analysis revealed the present of O-H, C-H, C=O, C=C, C-O, and N-H predominantly in the extracts. This study provides the information for further application of C. vespertilionis on various pharmacological and phytochemical aspects as not many scientific studies can be found.