Abstract

Bitwell Chibuye53576*, Indra Sen Singh53578, Luke Chimuka53583 and Kakoma Maseka53584

Diospyros batokana (Ebenaceae) is used traditionally in Zambia to treat various ailments among degenerative diseases. This study aimed to screen the phytochemicals using chemical tests and LCMS/MS and evaluate the total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity of methanolic leaf extract of Diospyros batokana. Whereas maceration was used to extract phytocompounds for preliminary phytochemical screening, QuEChERS based method was used to extract polyphenolics in methanol for LCMS/MS screening. Total phenolic content was evaluated using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, at 765 nm. Total flavonoid content was estimated by aluminium chloride colorimetric assay at 510 nm. Antioxidant activity was determined using 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging method, at 517 nm. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of antioxidants; phenolic compounds and flavonoids, and various other important secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, terpenoids, and saponins. Total phenolic content was estimated at 50.3780 ± 0.1188 mg GAE/g, whereas total flavonoid content was estimated to be 105.5495 ± 0.4066 mg QE/g. LCMS/ MS polyphenolic screening revealed the presence of several phenolics and flavonoids such as gallic acid, quercetin, Kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, Quercetin 3’-O-glucoside, isoflavonoids, and flavones. The crude extracts displayed high DPPH free radical scavenging activity with a very low IC₅₀ value of 13.08 μg/ mL. The high antioxidant capacity of the leaf extract of Diospyros batokana Ebenaceae might be the response for the use of the plant in traditional medicine in Zambia to manage and treat degenerative diseases.