Evaluation of total phenols,total flavonoids and antioxidant activity of the leaves crude extracts of locally grown pigeon pea traditionally used in Sultanate of Oman for the treatment of jaundice and diabetes

Objective:To determine the total phenols,total flavonoids and evaluate the antioxidant activity of crude extracts from the leaves of pigeon pea native to Sultanate of Oman by a popular method.Methods:The powdered leaves samples from pigeon pea were used for extraction by maceration method with methanol solvent.The methanol free crude extract by maceration method was suspended in water and successively extracted with different polarities of solvents.The obtained crude extracts with different polarities were used for the determination of total phenols and flavonoids contents by using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and aluminum chloride methods.The antioxidant activity of six crude extracts from pigeon pea was determined byα,αα-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl method.Results:The different polarities leaves crude extracts showed a significant amount of total phenols content ranging from 97.80 to 256.00 mg of GAE/g of crude extract.The same leaves crude extracts also showed good amount of total flavonoids content ranging from 1.38 to 8.51 mg QE/g plant material.The six crude extracts from the leaves displayed significantα,αα-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity with highest value in chloroform extract followed by methanol,butanol,ethyl acetate,hexane and water crude extracts(98.13%,89.26%,88.82%,86.41%,79.95%and 69.44%,respectively).Conclusions:Leaves crude extracts from pigeon pea have high contents of total phenols and flavonoids.In this regards,it could be used as a medicine for the treatment of different diseases.