Antioxidant Potential and the Characterization of Arachis hypogaea Roots

Abstract

Arachis hypogaea roots are used as traditional Chinese medicine to treat different ailments, and the present study involves the exploration and comparison of phenolic profile and antioxidant activities (ABTS+ and DPPH assay) of A. hypogaea root extract in different solvents. 70% aqueous acetone and 70% aqueous ethanol were proved to be the best solvents to recover total phenolic compounds, with a yield of 42.59 ± 1.96 and 41.34 ± 0.92 mg/g dry weight of extract, respectively. ABTS+ radical scavenging activity was the highest in 70% aqueous ethanol, while the absolute methanol extract showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity (29.50 ± 2.19 μg/mL). Furthermore, phytochemical profiling of 70% acetone extract of A. hypogaea roots was performed by LC-ESI-TOF-MS analysis which in turn indicated the presence of diverse compounds in the A. hypogaea root extract, namely, quinones, stilbenoids, and flavones and flavonoid glucosides.