The antioxidant studies of Dipterocarpaceae species from UiTM Forest Reserve, Jengka, Pahang

Antioxidant activity of crude methanol extracts of five Dipterocarpaceae species; Shorea ovalis (Meranti Kepong), Shorea resinosa (Meranti Belang), Shorea leprosula (Meranti Tembaga), Shorea acuminata (Meranti Rambai Daun) and Shorea macroptera (Meranti Melantai) from UiTM Jengka Forest Reserve were successfully being studied. The activities were determined by using four methods which are Total Phenolic Content (TPC) method, 1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method. Among all the Shorea extracts analyzed, S. acuminata (Meranti Rambai Daun) showed the highest total phenolic content (2731.00 ± 0.09 mg GAE/ 100 g weight). A good correlation was found between the results of radical scavenging activity and total phenolic contents where S. acuminata (Meranti Rambai Daun) containing the highest total phenolic contents exhibited the strongest antioxidants potential. Meanwhile, S. macroptera (Meranti Melantai) has indicated the highest antioxidant for the FTC and TBA methods, respectively. This study also revealed that antioxidant activities of these Malaysian Dipterocarpaceae species can be used as a potential source of natural antioxidants and may give new alternative for medical cure.