In vitro Antioxidant Activities of Aqueous and Ethanol Extracts of Mangifera indica Leaf, Stem-Bark and Root-Bark

Introduction: Mangifera indica is a rampant Nigerian plant with history of application in traditional medicine for the treatment of degenerative diseas- es by indigenous Nigerians. Methods: The leaf, stem-bark and root-bark of M. indica were screened for phytoconstituents. The dried powdered plant parts were extracted using aqueous and ethanol solvents. The antioxidant activity of the concentrated extracts was determined using the ferric re- ducing anti-oxidant power (FRAP), 2, 2’-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and thiobarbi-turic acid reactive substance (TBARS) assay methods. Result: The results obtained were analysed statistically by one – way analysis of variance with level of statistical significance taken as p<0.05. In FRAP assay, leaf and stem-bark aqueous extracts showed the highest antioxi- dant activity with values 92.75 ± 0.48% and 94.49 ± 0.48% respectively while the root-bark ethanol extract (68.67 ± 1.49%) showed the highest activity. In DPPH assay, the leaf, stem-bark and root-bark ethanol extracts showed the best percentage DPPH scavenging activity with values 79.09 ± 0.42%, 59.86 ± 0.32% and 80.70 ± 0.42% respectively. In TBARS assay, the leaf and root-bark aqueous extracts showed the best activities with val- ues 97.75 ± 0.56% and 99.48 ± 0.33% and the stem-bark ethanol extract (99.62 ± 0.26%). Conclusion: The study shows that both the aqueous and ethanol extracts of M. indica could be useful to combat free radical medi- ated diseases.