Antioxidant activities and toxicity of dichloromethane and n-hexane extracts of Annona squamosa L. leaves.

Annona squamosa contains some secondary metabolites and has significant biological activities, including antioxidant. The toxicity of n-hexane and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts from A. squamosa leaves was evaluated using the Brine Shrimp Lethality Test, while their antioxidant activity was evaluated through the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The antioxidant activity results showed inhibition concentration 50 (IC50) values of 152.76 ppm for the n-hexane extract and 57.87 ppm for the DCM extract. Toxicity tests of both extracts had lethal concentration 50 (LC50) values below 1000 ppm that indicated that the extracts are considered toxic. The results of fraction testing showed that fraction F6 was the most active as an antioxidant, with an IC50 of 86.49 ppm, and F5 had the highest toxicity with an LC50 of 75.30 ppm. Further gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the most active extract and fraction identified 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline and benzenepropanoic acid derivatives, which are suggested to contribute to the observed antioxidant and toxicity-related activities.