ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY AND TOTAL POLYPHENOLICS FROM SEED OILS OF VARIOUS CULTIVARS OF LAGENARIA SICERARIA

Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. is a vegetable food, also used as a traditional medicine. The present study was designed to investigate the flavonoids, total phenolics and antioxidant activities of seed oils extracted from six cultivars of Lagenaria siceraria. The total phenolics, flavonoids content and antioxidant activity were measured spectrophotometrically using standard procedures. The total phenolic contents of the oils ranged from 5.2-7.0 mg gallic acid/100g and total flavonoids, 4.1-6.1 mg quercetin equivalent/100g. The seed oils (120 μg/ml) free radical scavenging activity (DPPH assay) varied between 54.1-57.8% with EC50 values of 98.0-117.0 μg/ml; metal chelating activity and EC50 values of the oils were 65.5-83.6% and 19.0-59.0 μg/ml respectively; and ferric reducing power of seed oils varied from 0.528-0.580 with EC50 values of 91.0-104.0 μg/ml. Dietary polyphenolics from Lagenaria siceraria cultivars may supply substantial antioxidants, which may provide health-promoting advantages to the consumers. Keywords: Curcubitaceae, Lagenaria siceraria, Cultivars, Polyphenolics, Antioxidant activity.