Comparison of total phenols content and antioxidant potential of peel extracts of local and imported lemons samples

The design of this study was to investigate and compare the total phenols content and antioxidant activity of various crude extracts of lemon peels collected from local farmers and imported one from the local supermarket. Investigation of the total phenol content and antioxidant activity of various polarity peel extracts were performed by modifying Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) bioassay. The maximum total phenol content in locally grown lemon was found in methanol extract and the minimum was obtained in butanol extract. However, the maximum concentration of total phenol content in imported lemon was also found in the methanol crude extract and the minimum was found in chloroform extract. The high antioxidant activity among the six prepared extracts of local lemon peels was found in the ethyl acetate extract and the lowest was found in chloroform extract. Similar antioxidant activity result was found in the imported lemon collected from the supermarket. Our results show that both lemon peels have the considerable concentration of total phenols content and antioxidant activity, respectively. The lemon peels are cheap and available globally and may find extensive use in medicine, food and perfume industries as vital sources of natural antioxidants.