The Brine Shrimp Lethality of the Leaf Extracts of Piper baccatum Blume and their Antioxidant Properties

Piper baccatum Blume was investigated for the possible presence of bioactive compounds. Ethanol (PbE), chloroform (PbC), hexane (PbH), aqueous (PbA) and decoction (PbD) extracts of P. baccatum were prepared and subjected to evaluation of bioactivities. The toxicological evaluation utilized the brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT) and the determination of antioxidant activities included the 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity assay, the phosphomolybdenum assay for total antioxidant capacity and the Folin-Ciocalteu assay for total phenolics content. Among the extracts, the aqueous extract PbA exhibited the most toxic activity against the brine shrimp Artemiasalina with an LC50 of < 10 ppm. Both the aqueous and decoction extracts (PbA and PbD) showed the same ability to scavenge the free radical DPPH (EC50, 25.0 ppm). The hexane extract PbH possessed the highest total antioxidant capacity as expressed by its Ascorbic Acid Equivalents (AAE) value of 95.8 and Butylated Hydroxytoluene Equivalents (BHTE) value of 94.4. The highest total phenolics content was exhibited by the chloroform extract PbC having a Gallic Acid Equivalence (GAE) value of 99.2. The results indicate that bioactive compounds may be purified and isolated from the different extracts of P. baccatum.