Phenolic content and anti-oxidative attributes of various parts of wild banana (Ensete superbum Roxb. Cheesman) plant.

Ensete superbum Roxb. Cheesman (wild banana) is used as therapeutic edible by various
ethnic groups around the world. The antioxidant potential of ethanolic, methanolic, and
aqueous extracts of E. superbum ripe peel, seed, flower, and bract was tested using in
vitro and ex vivo models, and their polyphenolic constituents were determined by RP-HPLC
and LC/MS-ESI-
TOF.
E. superbum extracts were rich in anthocyanins, flavonols,
flavone, biflavonoid, and phenolic acid derivatives. The Partial Least Square Regression
analysis highlighted the contribution of individual phenolics toward the antioxidant activity.
Bract aqueous extract demonstrated best antioxidant activity in DPPH radical
scavenging activity assay (IC50 of 21.97 μg/ml), Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity
assay (207.97 μM TE/g) with highest Antioxidant Activity Index (1.79), and showed the
highest cellular antioxidant activity (67.02 μM quercetin equivalents/g) in Caco2 cells.
These findings highlight the potential of E. superbum as valuable source of natural antioxidants,
which can be used as pharmaceutical and functional food ingredient.
Practical applications
Wild banana has been used as a medicinal plant for ages throughout the world.
However, the systematic analysis of its constituents and their beneficial effect is
lacking. Our approach to search the effective plant part showed that the bioactive
ingredients are concentrated in aqueous extracts of bracts. This study provides a
basis for the antioxidant mechanisms of various wild banana plant parts, and will
promote the utilization of an under-utilized
wild edible plant.