Phytochemical Screening, Antioxidant Activity and UHPLC Fingerprinting of Methanolic Extract of the Fruits of Quercus semiserrata Roxb.

Quercus semiserrata Roxb. belongs to the family Fagaceae which is an Asian species of trees in the beech family. It has been found in Northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Yunnan, Thailand and Tibet. Proteins, carbohydrates, phenols and tannins, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids and alkaloids were detected in the fruits studied. The total phenolic content determined using Folin-ciocalteu reagent (FCR) was found to be 155.95 ± 0.18 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dry weight fruit extract and the total flavonoid content by Aluminium chloride colorimetric method was 238.78±0.007 quercetin equivalent/g dry weight fruit extract respectively. DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging activity and Reducing Power Assay were analyzed to study the antioxidant activities. Methanolic extract of Q. semiserrata fruit plays a significant role in antioxidant properties where the ABTS assay inhibition concentration (IC50) values for ascorbic acid and Quercus semiserrata are 15.88±0.05 µg/ml and 49.46±0.07 µg/ml respectively. DPPH assay IC50 values are found to be 13.74±0.09 µg/ml and 50.17±0.009 µg/ml. β-carotene content was found to be 0.002±0.19 mg/100 ml and lycopene content 0.0013±0.32 mg/100ml respectively. A simple method using reverse-phase Ultra High-performance Liquid Chromatography was developed for the detection of ascorbic acid, phenolic acids and flavonoids. It was observed that Q. semiserrata plays an important role in antioxidant activity even in low concentration.