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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2026)

Phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts of Homalomena cochinchinensis Engl.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.12274
Submitted
15 October 2025
Published
02-07-2026 — Updated on 09-07-2026
Versions

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts from the rhizome and root of Homalomena cochinchinensis Engl., a rare plant species from Vietnam. Phytochemical screening was conducted to identify major bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH radical-scavenging assay. Both extracts were found to contain phenolics, tannins, terpenoids, steroids, flavonoids, coumarins, alkaloids and saponins. Quantitative analysis showed that the rhizome extract exhibited higher contents of triterpenes (3.77 mg Oleuropein aglycone equivalent (OAE)/g dry weight (DW)), total polyphenols (29.85 mg Quercetin acid equivalent (GAE)/g DW) and flavonoids (20.94 mg Quercetin equivalents (QE)/g DW) compared to the root extract (0.86 mg OAE/g DW, 8.73 mg GAE/g DW and 10.77 mg QE/g DW respectively). The rhizome and root extracts also demonstrated antioxidant activity with IC₅₀ values of 6.32 and 6.54 mg/mL respectively. These findings indicate that H. cochinchinensis, particularly its rhizome, is a promising natural source of antioxidant compounds.

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