Abstract:

Phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of the crude ethanolic and essential oil extract of Arachis hypogea was determined using standard methods. Fresh leaves of Arachis hypogea was extracted using modified steam distillation. Phytochemical screening of the ethanolic, n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous crude extracts were carried out and the results revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, phytosteroids, steroids, phenols, anthraquinones, carbohydrates, and tannins in all the extracts, except for the aqueous extract where glycosides, phytosterols, steroids, phenols and anthraquinones were found to be absent. The antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Arachis hypogea was screened using DPPH method in comparison to ascorbic acid as standard and the IC50 values for the plant's crude ethanolic extract was found to be 0.462 for Arachis hypogea and 0.428 for ascorbic acid, while the IC50 values obtained for essential oil was 0.428 for ascorbic acid but absent in Arachis hypogea. Arachis hypogea oil was also analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) and 15 compounds were obtained and identified. The main compounds are; 4,7-dimethyl-1H-isoindol-1,3-yl methyl ether (37.14%), tetradecanoic acid (21.98%), cyclohexanol (4.21%), O-phenylaniline (3.69%), amongst others. These results, support the plant's use in the traditional treatment of chronic diarrhoea, fever, diabetes, kidney and bladder diseases, e.t.c. Hence, this suggest its usage in the formulation of new antioxidant and antibacterial drugs.