Antioxidant Study of the Crude Extracts from Chromolaena odorata (L.) King & Robinson

Abstract

Chromolaena odorata or Siam weed is a perennial herb and invasive weed
commonly found throughout Thailand. It can be used in traditional medicine. Some of its
medicinal properties are reported to be related to the antioxidant activity. In this study,
the leaves, stems, and roots of C. odorata were subjected to extraction by various
solvents and the extracts evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant activity. Extraction of
leaves by water or methanol gave the highest recoveries (12.16 and 10.45%, respectively).
Among the plant extracts studied, the ethanol extract of leaves showed the highest
antioxidant activity in several assays. Significant differences in the amount of total phenolic
content were found in extracts from different plant tissues, with the highest amount
(12.1 mg GAE/mg of extract) found in ethanol extract of leaves. It can be concluded that
C. odorata leaves have the highest antioxidant activities compared to other plant tissues
and ethanol is the best solvent.