Phytochemical Constituent and Antioxidant Activity of <i>Thaumatococcus daniellii </i>Benn (Benth.) Leaves (Food Wrapper)

Thaumatoccocus daniellii Benn (Benth.) is an organic food wrapper that influences the color and flavour of most foods processed and packaged with it. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate the phytochemical constituent and antioxidant activity of T. daniellii leave. Quantitative phytochemical analysis was carried out using standard procedures while antioxidant activity was assayed using 2’,2’diphenylpicrylhydrazine (DPPH) and ferric ion reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP). Results showed that T. daniellii leaves contained flavonoids, polyphenols, alkaloids and saponins. Furthermore, aqueous leaf fraction had higher quantity of polyphenols (0.41 ± 0.1 mg% gallic acid) and flavonoids (0.28 ± 0.1 mg% quercetin) than polyphenols (0.23 ± 0.3 mg% gallic acid) and flavonoids (0.11 ± 0.1 mg% quercetin) in hexane leaf fraction. Investigation of antioxidant activity revealed that 100 - 500 mg/ml aqueous leaf fraction exhibited a significantly (P<0.05) higher DPPH radical scavenging activity than the hexane leaf fraction. In addition, the aqueous fraction of T. daniellii leaves exhibited a significantly (P<0.05) higher ferric ion reducing potential than hexane leaf fraction. Thus, data from this study indicated that T. daniellii leaves color and flavour enhancing properties could be attributed to the presence of polyphenols and flavonoids. In addition, its use as food wrapper may introduce phyto-antioxidants into foods processed and packaged with T. daniellii leaves.