EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIALS OF MONODORA MYRISTICA (AFRICAN NUTMEG GUJIYA)

This study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant potential of Monodora myristica seed extract. Phytochemicals such as alkaloid, saponin, tannin, flavonoid, phenol, arthracyanin and cyanogenal glycoside were detected on different extract of the seed such as water, methanol, ethanol and acetone and result indicated the presence of these phytochemicals in their right proportion except for acetone extract which did not indicate the presence of saponin. Antibacterial activity conducted on the various extracts of the seed such as; water, ethanol, methanol and acetone indicated inhibition. Bacteria such as Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Eschrichia coli were used as the test organisms. Methanol extract of Staphylococcus aureus indicated the highest inhibition of 17.33mm, while water extract of eschrichia coli indicated the lowest inhibition of 8.66mm. the minimum inhibition concentration(MIC) of the seed extract ranges from 100─200mg/ml. antioxidant assay was carried out using three methods; DDPH scavenging spectrophotometric method, chelating method and the ferric ion reducing activity. In the scavenging method, the percentage scarvenging antioxidant ranges from 37.68%─ 48.91%, while the chelating method ranges from 33.33%─44.72% and the reducing method ranges from 26.89%─46.06%. since the crude extract was able to inhibit the growth of organisms, this study validates the use of Monodora myristica in herbal medicine.