INVESTIGATING THE FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING AND ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE INHIBITION ACTIVITIES OF ELLETARIA CARDAMOMUM, PIPER NIGRUM AND SYZYGIUM AROMATICUM

Spices have been used since long to enhance the flavor and aroma of our foods. Besides, they also produce several medicinal effects and are used in treating various clinical ailments. The different phytochemicals present greatly influence the biological activities possessed by plants/spices. The present research work investigates the free radical scavenging and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibition activity of different extracts of Elletaria cardamomum, Piper nigrum and Syzygium aromaticum. Total phenol, flavonoid, condensed tannins and saponin contents were also measured. Among the different extracts of spices evaluated for DPPH free radical scavenging, ethanolic extract of S. aromaticum exhibited the highest inhibition with IC₅₀ value of 42±7.4 µg/ml. This high radical scavenging activity can be directly correlated with the presence of high total phenolic content (310±6.87 mg GAEs/g extract) possessed by the extract. The ethanolic extracts of all three spices had shown better inhibition activity against AChE than other extracts. At 500 µg/mL concentration, S. aromaticum and E. cardamomum ethanolic extracts showed 52.22±3.7 % and 52.95±2.9 % AchE inhibition respectively. These findings suggest that these spices could act as an anticholinesterase agent and also are an efficient free radical scavenger, which may be helpful in preventing or alleviating patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.