Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro antioxidant activity and DNA damage inhibition potential of aqueous extract
of S. melongena with different skin colours. Water extracts of brinjal with four different skin colours: moderately purple (S1), light
purple (S2), dark purple (S3) and purple with green lines (S4) were tested for their antioxidant and radical scavenging activities.
The total phenolic content (TPC) was quantified using Folin-Ciocalteau’s method. The effectiveness of brinjal extracts in
preventing radical induced DNA damage was also determined. There was a significant difference (p<0.0001) between the skin
colour andantioxidant activity. Brinjal with S3skin colour showed the highest TPC and antioxidant activity measured by FRAP
while, S2 showed the least. S1 displayed the highest percentage of DPPH radical scavenging activity with an IC50 value of
3.51±0.62 mg/ml while, S3 demonstrated the strongest total antioxidant capacity with an inhibition percentage of 40.45±1.17. In
the FTC (Ferric Thiocyanate) and egg yolk model, S1 and S3 showed better antioxidantactivity than S2 and S4. The in vitro
freeradical quenchingand antioxidant results well correlated with the in vitro lipid peroxidation assays. All extracts were able to
effectively retain DNA against AAPH induced radical damage at the concentration levels (25 and 75 mg/ml) tested. All the extracts
showed moderate to potent antioxidant activity, among which S3 and S1, intensely coloured skins, demonstrated better antioxidant
activity which may be attributed to the higher phenolic content since a linear relation was observed between the TPC and the
antioxidant parameters.
