Comparative Evaluation of Chemical Compositions and Antioxidant Activities of Passiflora edulis Sims Extracts

Passiflora members have an important quality in both conventional and modern medicine. In the present study Passiflora edulis Sims from MediterraneanTurkey (Antalya-Gazipaşa) was investigated from the aspects of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities The plant material (stems, leaves) used as a whole and chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol were used for the extraction. High performance liquid chromatography was used to analyse the phenolic compounds of the extracts. Besides, the antioxidant potential of the extracts was characterised by the total phenolic content, the total flavonoid content, the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), the CUPRAC (Cupric Ion Reducing Antioxidant Capacity) and the FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power assay) tests. Methanol extract was found to be more active than the other extracts in the all antioxidant experiment. DPPH radical scavenging activity of methanol extract was 0.028 ± 0.001 mg/mL, FPAP assay was 0.511 ± 0.012 µmolGA/g and CUPRAC assay was 3.728 ± 0.150 µmolGA/g. As a result, methanol extract of Passiflora edulis was established ferulic acid (175.12 mg std/g) and p-coumaric acid (116.88 mg std/g) were determined as primary phenolic compounds in different amounts along with protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, apigenin and isorhanmetin. The results showed that Passiflora edulis deserves to be studied both for its use as a food and for its therapeutic properties.