ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY OF FLESH AND SEED FROM SYZYGIUM CUMINI FRUITS

The reddish purple color of the “Wa” or black plum (Syzygium cumini Skeels) fruit is due to the anthocyanins which are recognized as having strong antioxidant properties. Methanolic and acidified methanolic extracts, which included anthocyanins (crude extracts), were prepared from flesh (pulp and peel) and seeds of green, magenta and dark purple fruits of both fresh and dried plant materials. The extracts were evaluated for antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content and total anthocyanin contents. Acidified methanolic extracts gave consistently higher levels of all parameters studied. High levels of antioxidants were found in the fruit with extracts from the seeds having greater antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content than flesh. Anthocyanin was detected only in the flesh of margenta and dark purple fruits. The good yield of fruit from this tree and the high yield of antioxidants found in this study strongly suggested that this tropical edible fruit can be a potentially rich source of natural antioxidant.