Antioxidant profile of Haematocarpus validus (Miers) Bakh.f. ex Forman (Khoon phal) leaf and fruit: a medicinally important rare ethnic fruit crop.

The present study was undertaken for the antioxidant profiling of the lesser known underexplored ethnic fruit crop Haematocarpus validus (Miers) Bakh.f. ex Forman (Khoon phal). Reports on nutritional status and phytoconstituents of this plant are scanty and there is no scientific report on antioxidant potential of H. validus leaf eventhough, it is used as a hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory agent in ethnomedicine. Methanolic extracts prepared from shade dried and powdered samples of both leaf and fruit were used in the study. The secondary metabolite content recorded were: total phenolics 113.33 and 86.67 mg GAE/g, flavonoids 67.93 and 59.63 mg QE/g and alkaloids 2.72 and 1.93% for leaf and fruit, respectively. H. validus methanolic leaf and fruit extracts are found to be a potent source of natural antioxidants as it was evidenced by DPPH free radical scavenging activity and DNA protective properties (at 500 μg/ml concentration) in vitro.