Voltammetric and spectrophotometric determination of antioxidant activity of Eugenia dysenterica DC leaves extracts

Eugenia dysenterica DC (cagaiteira) is a native tree from Cerrado biome. Cagaita fruits are known and consumed in natura, mainly by inhabitants from Cerrado. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant activity of leaves of this plant. For this evaluation we used four methods, the reduction of phosphomolybdenum, scanning by hydrogen peroxide, DPPH radical scavenging assay and determination of electrochemical parameters by differential pulse voltammetry. The results indicate that all extracts from leaves of this species have significant antioxidant potential, following the order: crude ethanol extract CEE) >crude aqueous extract (CAE) >crude hexane extract (CHE). The voltammetric approaches were also applied in order to evaluate the redox behavior of the hydrophilic extracts, as well as of their sub-extracts. Thus, the results suggest the presence of catechol-like polyphenols, which were confirmed by chromatography and phytochemical methods. Voltammetric analysis showed to be a reliable and fast method to determine redox behavior of E. dysenterica extracts.