Antioxidant activities of the ethanolic and decoction leaf extracts of Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers.

Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers. is one of the medicinal plants that is widely used including in the Philippines. Despite that, there have been limited study of this plant conducted in the country. Thus, this study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the antioxidant profiles of K. pinnata leaves through decoction and ethanolic extraction collected from Bacolod, Lanao del Norte, Philippines. The antioxidant tests were done through 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, the total phenolics (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) were also assessed. All experiments were conducted in triplicate, and the resulting data were subjected to one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test to assess statistical significance. Decoction showed higher phenolics than the ethanolic extract. In contrast, ethanolic extract showed higher flavonoids (TFC) than the decoction. The inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values (in ppm) of scavenging activity of the decoction and ethanolic extracts were 173.8 ± 1.7 ppm and 21.09 ± 0.16 ppm respectively, compared to the standard ascorbic acid 2.29 ± 0.04, which indicated a weak antioxidant for decoction and very strong antioxidant for ethanolic. The antioxidant activities were closely associated with the content of total phenols and flavonoids present. Although these findings indicate potential antioxidant properties, additional research particularly in vivo studies is required to substantiate and confirm these results. Additionally, examining the influence of different extraction techniques and solvent systems could yield valuable insights into optimizing the recovery and potency of antioxidant compounds. Overall, this work provides a preliminary foundation for understanding the antioxidant potential of K. pinnata leaf extracts while highlighting the need for comprehensive evaluations to confirm their therapeutic relevance.