Antioxidant compound from Myristica fatua Houtt Leaves

Antioxidant plays an important role in reducing the risk of chronic diseases. By using DPPH radical scavenging assay-guided fractionation, a bioactive compound has been isolated from the methanol extract of the leaves of Myristica fatua Houtt and subsequently identified as methyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic (MDB). The structure of MDB was confirmed by UV, FT-IR, MS, 1- and 2-D NMR spectroscopy. This compound exhibit antioxidant activity together with previous compounds i.e (7S,8R,8'S,7'S)-7,7'-bis(3-hydroxy-5-methoxyphenyl)-8,8'-dimethylbuthane-7,7'-diol and 3"-hydroxy demethyldactyloidin with IC values 7.96, 101.1 and 15.4 µg/mL, respectively. These findings demonstrate that MDB can be considered as a natural antioxidant.