Fatty Acid Profile, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of the Seeds Extracts of Dodonaea angustifolia

Abstract

Dodonaea angustifolia (Sapindaceae) is an ever-green shrub reported to have analgesic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer and antioxidant activities. With the objective to find out the active extracts, the powdered seeds of D. angustifolia were successively extracted with petroleum ether, EtOAc and methanol on maceration each for 72 hours to afford 13.2% petrol, 3.4% EtOAc and 6.9% methanol extracts. Phytochemical screening of the methanol extract of the seeds was shown to have flavonoid, phenolics, saponin, steroids and anthraquinones while the EtOAc extract contains tannins, saponins, flavonoids, steroids and phenolics. The ground seeds were also Soxhlet extracted to furnish 16.3% yellowish oil, which was analyzed using GC-MS after trans esterifcation with MeOH-BF₃. The result revealed that the seeds are rich in oil with diverse fatty acids profile including tetradecanoic, palmitoleic, palmitic, oleic, and stearic acids. The methanol extract of the seeds of D. angustifolia was assessed for its antibacterial activities using various bacterial pathogens. It was found active against S. aureus, E. coli and P. eruginosa which exhibited zone of bacterial inhibition by 11, 12 and 11 mm, respectively. The activity displayed was modest compared to ciprofloxacin. The antibacterial activity observed from the present study supports the traditional uses of this plant against diseases caused by bacteria. The methanol extract was also evaluated for its antioxidant activity using DPPH radical scavenging and ferric thiocyanate methods. The extract inhibited the DPPH radical and lipid peroxide formation by 90% and 74%, respectively. The result demonstrated strong antioxidant activities of the seeds of D. angustifolia