ETHNOBOTANY AND ANTIOXIDANT DETERMINATION OF PHOEBE COOPERIANA FRUIT-A HIGHLY UTILIZED WILD FRUIT IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

The fruit of Phoebe cooperiana U.N Kanjilal ex A. Das is highly priced and one of the most preferred folk food among the Indigenous people of Arunachal Pradesh, India. The methanol extract of fruit collected from East Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh, India were evaluated for total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and antioxidant potential. The methanol extract of fruit were subjected to 2, 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydazyl (DPPH) assay for free radical scavenging property and ABTS radical cation scavenging activity to determine antioxidant potential. Folin-Ciocalteu’s method for quantification of total phenolic content and colorimetric method for quantification of total flavonoid content were used in the experiment. Ethnobotany, mode of cooking, demand of fruit in the local market and unscientific harvest from forest and resultant threat on the plant is discussed in the paper. The methanol extract contains considerable phenolic (33.93±1.14 mg GAE/g) and flavonoid (941.5 ±5.31 µMRE/g) but no significant correlation between the total content of phenolic and flavonoid and antioxidant potential was found as IC₅₀ value of 94.6±1.35µg/ml was found  in ABTS assay and IC₅₀ value of 279± 12µg/ml was found in DPPH assay.