Antioxidant activity of eight plants consumed by great apes in Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

Oxidative stress is an aggravating factor involved in a number of pathologies. The source and mobilization of antioxidant compounds are a challenge for the public health sector and new approaches are needed to  assess and identify the main sources of antioxidants. Monkeys and great apes are considered to tolerate the Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection and other diseases. The current study aimed at  screening wild chimpanzeefs diet to select plants with high antioxidant potential as supplement for  improving health status of people under oxidative stress. Bio-cultural approach based on chimpanzeefs  diet or auto-medication and human traditional medicine was used for selection of eight species, Ficus  elasticoides, Ficus lyrata, Ficus umbelleta, Ficus thonningii, Ficus mucuso, Xylopia quintasii,  Sherbournia calycina and Myrianthus libericus. Further, antioxidant activity of extracts (methanolic and  dichloromethane) from these plants was assessed by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric  reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. Methanolic extract of leaves from F. elasticoides showed the highest radical scavenging activity with 96.69% of DPPH inhibition, followed by extracts of F. lyrata (94.53%), X. quintasii (94.36%) and F. mucuso (94.33%). The IC₅₀ values of extracts were respectively 7.8, 9.3, 8.3 and 8.7 µg/ml and close to those of ascorbic acid (8.00 µg/ml) and gallic acid (8.20 µg/ml). The ferric reducing power of F. lyrata (185.01 µM) was the strongest. Active species contain monoterpenoid, secoiridoides and polyphenols. Further investigation on the use of such plants in the traditional medicine will contribute to generate an added value at the interface of human and animal  nutrition to provide nutraceuticals for immunocompromised people.

Key words: Cote dfIvoire, great apes diet, oxidative stress, antioxidant activity.