Sciences of Phytochemistry
Volume 5 Issue 1

Phytochemical Characterization and Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity in Sorghum bicolor Leaves Extracts

Clark, Poro David (Unknown)
Ndukwe, Gloria Ihuoma (Unknown)
Awatefe, Kehinde Jonathan (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
17 Feb 2026

Abstract

This study investigated the phytochemical composition and in-vitro antioxidant potential of leaves extracts from Sorghum bicolor, which were obtained through sequential maceration with solvents of different polarities (n-hexane and methanol). The extraction yields revealed a predominance of polar compounds, with methanol extract (12.5% w/w) significantly higher than the n-hexane extract (1.7% w/w). Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) profiling, using NIST library matching (similarity scores >80%) without reference standards, showed distinct patterns based on solvent use: the n-hexane extract contained nine primarily lipophilic compounds, mainly consisting of Z-2-octadecen-1-ol and octadecenoic acid derivatives, whereas the methanol extract yielded fifteen characterized by polar fatty acids and oxygenated derivatives. Identifications were tentative; those with lower match scores or inconsistent retention times required confirmation through alternative methods. Antioxidant capacity was evaluated via 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical inhibitory activity (HRIA), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The methanol extract demonstrated concentration-dependent DPPH scavenging (IC₅₀ = 0.1402 mg/L), comparable to vitamin C (0.1369 mg/L) in this assay, while the n-hexane extract showed weaker activity (IC₅₀ 3.22 mg/L). In HRIA and FRAP assays, vitamin C consistently showed greater activity than either extract, with n-hexane IC50 estimates constrained by poor curve fits (R2<0.9). Overall, the methanol extract surpassed the n-hexane extract across all assays but did not match the effectiveness of vitamin C. These in-vitro results suggest that S. bicolor leaves contain polar phytochemicals that merit further fractionation, compound-level characterization, and evaluation in biologically relevant models to elucidate their potential as sources of natural antioxidants.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

sciphy

Publisher

Subject

Chemical Engineering, Chemistry & Bioengineering Chemistry Medicine & Pharmacology

Description

Sciences of Phytochemistry (SciPhy or Sci Phytochem) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal published by ETFLIN. SciPhy aims to offer a widely visible and highly indexed platform for scholars and intellectuals to share their insights and works. From July 2023 onwards, SciPhy will ...