Abstract
The antioxidant activity, expressed in mM Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), of some edible Yemeni plants belonging to different families was evaluated using the ferrylmyoglobin/ABTS·+ method. Methanolic (80%) extracts of tested plants exhibited higher (p<0.05) TEAC than extracts of other solvents. Extracts of coffee beans (Coffea arabica), sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum), wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and sorrel (Rumex acetosa) had antioxidant activities equivalent to 8.7–47.1 mM Trolox or 7.9–42.8 mM BHA per g dry weight of plant. The TEAC of methanolic extracts for sorrel was not significantly different (p>0.05) from extracts of Leucaena leucocephala (Thailand) and Japanese green tea (Camellia sinensis). A good correlation (R2=0.937) was observed between TEAC and total phenol contents in 80% methanol extracts of tested plants.
