PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTICHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITIES OF CLITORIA TERNATEA ROOTS EXTRACT

Abstract

Clitoria ternatea is also known as ‘Bunga telang’ in Malay. The roots of C. ternatea were traditionally used as a brain tonic to improve memory. This raises the possibility of using the the roots extract as a cholinesterase inhibitor in treating Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. Other than cholinesterase inhibitors, its antioxidant properties would also help in inhibiting the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, as oxidative stress is one of the contributing factors for this disease. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the phytochemical constituents in C. ternatea roots extract by using phytochemical screening and GC-MS analysis, to evaluate the antioxidant properties of C. ternatea roots through DPPH radical scavenging assay and total phenolic content and also to investigate the cholinesterase inhibition potential of C. ternatea roots extract. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponin, phenols, terpenoids and steroids. While GC-MS analysis revealed n-hexadecanoic acid as the major constituent (12.95%). The IC50 value of DPPH radical scavenging assay for the extract was 85.31g/ml and the phenolic content in the extract was 10.84 ± 0.12 mg GAE/g. The IC50 value of C. ternatea roots extract against AChE was 118.5±8.6 (µg/ml and 83.59±6.23 (µg/ml against BChE. The roots extract showed potential cholinesterase inhibition and antioxidant activity.