Antioxidant Properties of Phenolic Extracts of African Mistletoes (Loranthus begwensis L.) from Kolanut and Breadfruit Trees

Mistletoe (Loranthus begwensis L.) has been used ethno-botanically for the management of several tropical diseases for centuries; and the medicinal properties have been associated with their host plant. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the antioxidant properties of mistletoe from two host plants (breadfruit and kolanut trees). The result of the study revealed that mistletoe from kolanut tree (0.69 mg/g) had higher total phenol content than that of breadfruit tree (0.49 mg/g). Furthermore, the extracts chelate Fe 2+ and scavenge DPPH radicals in a dose-dependent (0 – 30 mg/ml) pattern. Nevertheless, the EC50 revealed mistletoes from kolanut as having higher DPPH scavenging (15.77mg/ml) than that of breadfruit (16.29mg/ml), while L.begwensis from Breadfruit tree had higher Fe 2+ chelating ability (1.97mg/ml) than that of Kolanut tree (2.23mg/ml). Likewise, mistletoe from kolanut (27.5mg/AAE g) had higher ferric reducing ability (FRAP) than that of breadfruit (22.0mg/AAE g). Although both mistletoe extracts showed promise as good antioxidant sources, the total phenol content and the antioxidant capacity pattern of the extracts suggest host dependency