Evaluation of the anti-radical activity of extracts from different parts of Datura metel L. using the DPPH● method

Datura metel L. is a toxic herbaceous plant of the Solanaceae family. It is distinguished by its large, trumpet-shaped flowers, which can be white or pink, and its globular fruit covered with spines. It is native to Central America, where it has naturalized in the Mediterranean and various other regions of the globe, while being cultivated as an ornamental plant. It is a plant widely used in Senegal by traditional practitioners to combat asthma, coughs, tuberculosis, and bronchitis. The seeds of Datura metel L. are most commonly used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and seizures. Although the seeds exhibit some toxicity, they also have potent analgesic, anthelmintic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, and antidiabetic activities. In this work, we evaluated the antioxidant activity of the different extracts. For this purpose, the different parts of the harvested plant are dried away from light, then pulverized and extracted with solvents of increasing polarity, respectively hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and water on the one hand and ethanol on the other hand. This was followed by the determination of the antioxidant activity of the different extracts obtained after maceration with the different solvents. The results of the antioxidant activity determined by the 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method showed a remarkable anti-radical capacity of certain organs of the plant with in particular relatively low 50 % inhibitory concentrations (IC50) (0.2 to 2.61 mg/mL for the ethanolic extract) compared to ascorbic acid (IC50 is 0.085 mg/mL) which constitutes the reference antioxidant.