Phytochemical profile and antioxidant potency of Murraya koenigii leaves extract: Influence of solvent fractionation

Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng is renowned in Asian herbal medicine for its diverse pharmacological properties, particularly its antioxidant capabilities. While numerous studies have explored its bioactivity, there is limited comparative data on how different solvent fractions affect its phytochemical and antioxidant properties. The objective of this study was to assess the phytochemical components and antioxidant capacity of ethanol extract and its solvent fractions (n-hexane and ethyl acetate) obtained from M. koenigii leaves. The total concentrations of phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, and alkaloids were quantified spectrophotometrically, and antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP tests. The phytochemical analysis indicated that n-hexane had the highest concentrations of flavonoids, phenolics, and terpenoids, while ethyl acetate was richest in alkaloids. The ethyl acetate fraction demonstrated the most potent antioxidant activity, as evidenced by its lowest IC50 values in DPPH (5.10 ± 0.49 mg/L) and ABTS (94.96 ± 0.17 mg/L) assays, along with the highest FRAP reducing power (279.00 ± 1.00 mg AAE/g). Pearson correlation analysis showed significant correlations between alkaloids and DPPH (r =-0.952, p < 0.01) and FRAP (r = 0.961, p < 0.01) activities. These results highlighted that metabolite polarity and assay conditions greatly influence antioxidant behavior.