Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.15255/KUI.2021.064

Antioxidant Activity of Watermelon Seeds Determined by DPPH Assay

Mirsada Salihović orcid.org/0000-0001-7497-4084 ; University of Sarajevo-Faculty of Pharmacy, Zmaja od Bosne 8, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mirha Pazalja orcid.org/0000-0001-6614-702X ; University of Sarajevo-Faculty of Pharmacy, Zmaja od Bosne 8, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Atifa Ajanović orcid.org/0000-0002-5333-9775 ; University of Sarajevo-Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zmaja od Bosne 90, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the antioxidant activity of the fresh extracts of Croatian and Greek watermelon seeds. Samples were prepared using two extraction methods: Soxhlet and maceration. Ethanol was used as a solvent in the Soxhlet, and methanol in the maceration method. The mass fractions of the extracts obtained by maceration were lower compared to those obtained by the Soxhlet method.
The antioxidant capacity of fresh watermelon-seed extracts was determined by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical) method. The antioxidant capacity of the extracts was also expressed via IC₅₀ (half maximal inhibitory concentration). Based on the obtained IC₅₀ values (1.41 to 2.60 mg ml−1), all tested extracts showed antiradical activity but antioxidant capacity was better in extracts obtained by the maceration method. The reason for this may be the use of methanol as a solvent, which was to be expected, since methanol is a more polar solvent than ethanol.
The neutralisation capacity of DPPH radicals of analysed extracts was compared to the neutralisation capacity of ascorbic acid as standard. The concentrations of tested extracts required to neutralize 50 % of DPPH radicals were significantly higher than the required concentration of ascorbic acid (0.25 mg ml–1).




This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords

watermelon seeds; Soxhlet extraction; maceration; DPPH

Hrčak ID:

277566

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/277566

Publication date:

15.5.2022.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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