In vitro EVALUATION OF FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING ABILITY OF ROOT BARK EXTRACTS OF Massularia acuminata spp.

The root bark of Massularia acuminata has been used for medicinal purpose in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The plant part has been established to be rich in some phytochemicals. This work evaluates the free radical scavenging ability and hence, antioxidant property of ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol and methanol extracts of the plant part by the DPPH free radical scavenging method. Ethyl acetate extract exhibited the least free radical scavenging ability of 49.71?0.17 % at 100?g/ml concentration. But methanol, ethanol and acetone extracts showed appreciable scavenging ability of 67.47?0.30, 65.01?0.15 and 63.64?0.17 % respectively, values which are comparable with that of the common antioxidant standard, ascorbic acid. Therefore the three extracts can be said to possess reasonable antioxidant property. The variation in the free radical scavenging ability of the extracts shows that extracting solvents play a role in the types of phytochemicals extracted and hence antioxidant property. Based on the outcome of this work, the plant part can be said to possess antioxidant phytochemicals which can be used to manage oxidative stress see more