Abstract:
There are numerous wild plant species in Sri Lanka that are edible and capable of
improving consumer health. Acrostichum aureum L. (Karankoku) is an important wild
edible plant species found especially in Sabaragamuwa province in Sri Lanka and, its
nutritional properties are still not well explored. This study was carried out to determine
the nutrient composition, antioxidant activity in different crude extracts and to screen
the phytochemicals of A. aureum. Water, ethanol, and chloroform were used to prepare
the crude extracts. The antioxidant activities of crude extracts were tested via TPC,
TFC, DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays. AOAC standards were used to determine the
proximate nutritional composition including, ash, moisture, crude protein, crude fat,
and crude fiber. In DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays, the highest antioxidant activity in
crude extracts was found in water extract followed by ethanol and chloroform extracts.
Preliminary phytochemicals screening for crude extracts was done to determine the
presence of alkaloids, tannin, saponin, flavonoid, and carbohydrate, protein compounds.
Moisture and ash contents of the fresh herb were 81.426% and 3.92%, while crude fat,
crude protein, and crude fiber content were 2.61%, 11.49%, and 32.78% in dry weight
basis. The results showed that most of the screened phytochemicals in A. aureum are
potent antioxidants and have the capability of free radical scavenging. The water extract
in crude showed the highest radical scavenging activities with the value of DPPH assay
(IC50 at 0.6178±0.1496 mg/ml), ABTS assay (IC50 at 0.08390±0.00178 mg/ml), and
FRAP assay (62.98±13.75 mg TE/g). There was a good correlation between phenolic,
flavonoid compounds with antioxidant activities.
