Comparative study of Antioxidant properties, Polyphenols and Flavonoid contents of the tuber and seed extracts of Marama bean (Tylosema esculentum)

Abstract

Tylosema esculentum, also known as the marama bean, is an underutilized legume from Southern Africa. Marama seeds and tubers are used as food and traditional medicine. The antiviral properties of the tuber and seeds have already been explored and the present work provides a first time report on the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of marama tuber. Marama tuber extract, rich in phenolic compounds, exhibited the highest antioxidant activity compared to the seeds extract. IC50 values obtained for DPPH free radical scavenging were 95.62 ± 7.08 μg/ml and >1000 μg/ml for marama tuber and seed extracts, respectively. There was a positive correlation between the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity in the marama tuber and seed samples. In conclusion, the overall findings of this study suggest that the marama tuber could be a potential source of natural antioxidants.