Comparative Phytochemical Constituents and Antioxidant Activity of Wild and Cultivated Alepidea amatymbica Eckl & Zeyh

There is a need to scientifically validate the claim that wild species of medicinal plants are more potent than the cultivated plants. Thus, this study evaluated the phytochemical and antioxidant properties of wild and cultivated Alepidea amatymbica. Acetone, methanol, and water extracts of the rhizome of wild and cultivated A. amatymbica were evaluated for total phenol, flavonol, flavonoid, tannin, proanthocyanidin, saponin, and alkaloid contents using spectrophotometric methods. In vitro antioxidant activity was measured using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), nitric oxide (NO), and hydrogen peroxide assays. The wild extracts had higher phytochemical contents in most of the assays than cultivated extracts. Total phenol in the wild extracts ranged from 32.30 to 117.8 mg GAE/g with the acetone extracts having the highest content while the water extracts were the least. The range in the total phenol of the cultivated species was 66.46 to 98.44 mg GAE/g with the methanol extracts having the highest content while water extracts was the least. The flavonoid content ranged from 55.01 to 99.09 mg QE/g and from 48.65 to 67.32 mg QE/g for the wild and cultivated plants, respectively. The alkaloid contents ranged from 14.70 to 17.80% in the wild species while it ranged from 11.98 to 13.21% in the cultivated species. The wild species also showed higher antioxidant activities in most of the assays evaluated. This study has implications for both pharmacological and conservation purposes.