Determination of Physicochemical and Antioxidant Activities of Soursop (Annona muricata L.)

Abstract

Nowadays Soursop has become popular for its high antioxidant as well as anticancer property and potential medicinal benefits in Bangladesh. An experiment was carried out at Horticulture Laboratory of Agrotechnology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna on the physicochemical characteristics and antioxidant activities of soursop (Annona muricata L.) leaf and fruit which were collected from five different locations of the South Western region of Bangladesh during the period from May to June, 2024. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications. A significant variation in respect of all the physical and chemical parameters of leaves and fruits was observed among the study areas. The highest weight (1.35mg), length (133.68cm) and breadth (6.05cm) of soursop leaf were observed in the samples collected from Khulna. The maximum weight (626g), length (15.39cm), breadth (14.43cm), weight of edible portion (474.25g), weight of non-edible portion (151.75g), percentage of edible portion (75.70%), total number of seeds per fruit (51.50) and total seed weight (12.54g) of soursop fruit were also observed in the samples collected from Khulna and the highest percentage of non-edible portion (30.38%) was found from the fruits of Kushtia. The maximum value of TSS (14.64%), TA (0.99%) and Vit. C (22.65mg/100g) was found in soursop fruit. On the other hand, the highest value of carotenoids (0.76mg/g), flavonoid (0.85g/100g), tannins (11.08mg/g), Saponins (13.93mg/g), alkaloids (35.15µg/g) and acetogenins (35.22mg/g) were found in the leaf. The highest IC₅₀ (86.46µg/mL) value as well as lowest antioxidant activity was observed in soursop leaf and the lowest IC₅₀ (33.36µg/mL) value as well as highest antioxidant activity was found in soursop fruit. So, the better performance in respect of physical characteristics of soursop fruits and leaves were found in the samples collected from Khulna. Soursop leaves showed better performance in respect of chemical characteristics.