Abstract:
Maerua siamensis is classified in Capparidaceae family, commonly called as Chaeng in Thailand. Leaves were used as Thai traditional medical treatment of muscular pain. The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant activity, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents from leaves and twigs of this plant. The Soxhlet extraction was used to prepare the crude extracts and the seven solvents including hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, methanol and water were used. It was found that the water extracts of leaves (50.48 + 1.14 mgGAE.g-1) and twigs (70.09 + 2.10 mgGAE.g-1) showed highest the total phenolic content while all extracts from leaves and twigs showed very low contents of flavonoids. In addition, the ethyl acetate extracts of leaves and twigs showed the highest antioxidant activity using DPPH free radical assay with % DPPH radical inhibition 40.83 + 0.67 and 51.83 + 0.70 at 500 ug per mL, respectively