ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF COMPOUNDS ISOLATED FROM PYCNANTHUS ANGOLENSIS (WELW.) WARB AND BYROPHYLLUM PINNATUM (LAM.) OKEN

Pycnanthus angolensis (Welw.) Warb and Byrophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken are two herbal recipes employed in native medicine for the treatment /management of gastrointestinal disorders, skin infections and more especially cancers, wounds and many other inflammatory conditions. Before now, seven compounds ( NG-1b, NG-2 , NG-3b, NG-4c, NG-5a , KF - 1a and KF - 2) have been obtained from the extracts of these plants by column and /or preparative thin - layer chromatographies. The search for new and more active antioxidant agents necessitated the screening of these compounds for potential activity. Generally the isolates gave (IC 50 ) of between 0.50and 0.60 μg mL -1 .However, NG-1b demonstrated a significant activity at 0.48 μg mL -1 which compare favourably with that shown by Vitamin A (a standard antioxidant drug) at 0.49 μg mL -1 . These compounds, most especially NG-1b could be further worked on with the aim of improving on the observed antioxidant activity through in-vitro structural activity relationship studies (SARS) and probably in-vivo clinical trials.