J. Trop. Agric. and Fd. Sc.

41(1)(2013): 53 62

W.Z. Wan Nur Zahidah, A. Noriham and M.N. Zainon

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of pink guava

leavesandseeds

(Aktiviti antioksidan dan antimikrob daun dan biji jambu batu merah)
W.Z. Wan Nur Zahidah*, A. Noriham** and M.N. Zainon**
Keywords: Psidium guajava L., phenolic content, flavonoid, diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical
(DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)
Abstract
The antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of leaves and seeds of pink guava
(Psidium guajava L.) were investigated. They were analyzed for total phenolic
content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), scavenging of 2,2-diphenyl-1picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)
assays, and oxidative stability of fats using Rancimat test. The antimicrobial
activity was determined using disc diffusion method against the bacteria
Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas
aeruginosa as well as the fungi Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans.
Results showed that pink guava leaves possessed a higher TPC (368.61 25.85
mg/100 g GAE) compared to the seeds (79.03 3.48 mg/100 g GAE). The total
flavonoid content showed the same trend where the leaves showed higher value
than the seeds extract. The leaves exhibited high scavenging effect (90%) as
determined by DPPH while the seeds had 36% scavenging effect. The FRAP
values of guava leaves were also higher than guava seeds extract. Using the
Rancimat test, all natural and synthetic antioxidants significantly delayed the
development of oxidative destruction in margarine. Guava leaves extract also
exhibited antimicrobial effect by inhibiting the growth of Bacillus subtilis and
Staphylococcus aureus. Pink guava leaf extract has the potential to be used
as a functional food ingredient or as a bioactive ingredient in the food and
pharmaceutical industry.

Introduction
Naturally derived compounds and other
natural products may have applications
in controlling pathogens in foods and
can be used as food additives. Plants
contain a variety of naturally occurring
substances called phytochemicals.
These phytochemicals, which have
dual functionalities in preventing lipid

oxidation and antimicrobial properties,

have tremendous potential for extending the
shelf life of food products. Some spices are
known to contain essential oils that possess
antimicrobial activity, such as eugenol
in cloves, allicin in garlic, and cinnamic
aldehyde and eugenol in cinnamon (Holt and
Gomez-Almonte 1995). In addition, some
vegetables and herbs contain substances

*Food Technology Research Centre, MARDI Johor Bahru, 80350 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
**Food Technology Programme, Faculty of Applied Science, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam,
Selangor, Malaysia
Authors full names: Wan Nur Zahidah Wan Zainon, Noriham Abdullah and Zainon Mohd Noor
E-mail: zahidah@mardi.gov.my
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute 2013

53

Antioxidants in leaves and seeds of pink guava

that inhibit microbial growth (Delaquis and

Mazza 1995). Antioxidants are substances
that significantly delay or prevent oxidation
even at low concentrations (Halliwel
1996). Apart from their role as health
benefactors, antioxidants are added into
foods to prevent or delay oxidation of food
initiated by free radicals formed during the
exposure to environmental factors such as
air, light and temperature. At present, most
of the antioxidants in the food industry
are manufactured synthetically. The use of
synthetic antioxidants has been questioned
because of their toxicity (Praveen and
Awang 2007).

Agricultural and industrial byproducts are potential sources of natural
food additives. The availability of phenolic
compounds from agricultural and industrial
residues, their extraction and antioxidant
activities have been the subject of review by
researchers (Moure et al. 2001). According
to Schieber et al. (2001), by-products of
fruits and vegetables have been reported
to have good sources of functional food
ingredients and nutraceuticals.

Psidium guajava L. (family:
Myrtaceae), referred to as guava, grows as
a large spreading shrub or a small tree up
to 15 m high. India is the worlds major
producer of guava (Kwee and Chong
1990). In Malaysia, Perak is the largest
area for guava plantation (Kwee and Chong
1990). Besides the white variety, pink
guava is also one of the popular varieties
in Malaysia. This variety is commercially
cultivated only in Setiawan, Perak, mainly
for processing into pink guava puree.
According to Kong et al. (2010), about 25%
of the industrial by-products are discarded
during puree production. Kong et al. (2010)
reported that the by-products derived from
crushing, refining and sieving of pink guava
puree, such as the seeds, possessed high
antioxidant properties. However, there is a
lack of information on the antioxidant and
antimicrobial activities of pink guava seeds
and leaves reported in Malaysia. Hence,
this study was conducted to evaluate the
54

potential of leaves and seeds of pink guava

as a natural antioxidant or antimicrobial
agent. The present work could provide
useful information in finding the natural
food ingredient from waste materials and
agricultural by-products.
Materials and methods
Raw materials and preparation of extracts
Pink guava seeds and leaves were obtained
from Golden Hope Plantation, Setiawan,
Perak, Malaysia. The seeds and leaves
extracts were prepared according to the
method of Duh and Yen (1997). A fresh
sample of 20g was put into 600 ml boiling
water for 10 min. After boiling, sample
was blended and filtered with Whatman
No. 4 filter paper. Water was removed
using the rotary evaporator (Model:
BUCHI Rotavapor R-200) at 70 C. The
concentrated extracts were frozen in the
blast freezer (SANYO VIP Series-86 C)
at 70 C for 2 days and then freeze-dried
(freeze dryer CHRIST Alpha 2 4) at
16C for 3 days. The extracts were stored
in amber bottles at 0 C prior to analysis.

The bacteria, Bacillus subtilis,
Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeroginosa,
Staphylococcus aureus, and fungi,
Aspergilus niger and Candida albicans
were obtained from the stock culture
at Department of Microbiology, UiTM
ShahAlam.
Chemicals and reagents
The following chemicals were obtained
from Sigma: gallic acid, DPPH, L-ascorbic
acid, BHA, BHT and chloramphenicol.
Fluka provided Na2CO3 anhydrous and iron
(III) chloride anhydrous. Natrium nitrite,
trichloroacetic acid and ferric chloride were
supplied by Merck. Both Ethanol 95%
and methanols were supplied by J. Kollin
Chemicals. Folin-Ciocalteau reagents,
potassium ferricyanide, potasium iodide
and nutrient agar were supplied by Ajax
Finechem, BDH Chemicals, Bendosen and
Oxoid respectively.

W.Z. Wan Nur Zahidah, A. Noriham and M.N. Zainon

Total phenolic content

The total phenolic content (TPC) was
determined using Folin-Ciocalteau reagent
following the method of Singleton and
Rossi (1965) using gallic acid as a standard.
Briefly, 0.1 ml diluted extract (1 mg of
extract/ml of distilled water) solution was
added into a 10 ml volumetric flask. Then,
0.5 ml of Folin-Ciocalteau reagent was
added and the contents of the flask was
thoroughly mixed. After 1 8 min, 1.5 ml of
Na2CO3 (20%) was added and the volume
was made up to 10 ml using distilled water.
The mixture was allowed to stand for 2 h in
the dark. The absorbance was measured at
760 nm using a UV-Vis Spectrophotometer
(Cole Parmer 1100, Vernon Hills, Illinois).
Total phenolic content was expressed as mg
gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per 100 g dry
weight using the equation obtained from the
standard gallic acid calibration graph.
Total flavonoid content
Determination of total flavonoid contents
(TFC) was determined according to the
method by Zhishen et al. (1999) with some
modifications. One ml of aliquot was mixed
with 4 ml of distilled water. At zero time,
0.3 ml of (5% w/v) NaNO2 was added.
After 5 min, 0.3 ml of (10% w/v) AlCl3
was added. At 6 min, 2 ml of 1 M solution
of NaOH were added. The volume was
then made up to 10 ml by the addition of
2.4ml of distilled water. The mixture was
shaken vigorously and the absorbance of the
mixture was read at 510 nm. A calibration
curve was prepared using a standard
solution of catechin (200, 400, 600, 800
and 1,000 ppm, R2 = 0.991). The results
were also expressed on dry weight basis as
mg catechin equivalent (CAE) per 100 g of
sample.
DPPH radical scavenging activity
The effect of plant extracts on 2,
2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)
radical was estimated according to the
method of Yamaguchi et al. (1998) with
some modifications. A volume of 600 l

of the extracts (0.2 mg/ml distilled water

= 200 ppm) with increasing concentration
was added to 4.5 ml of DPPH (1 mM
in ethanolic solution) in a 10 ml bottle
with screw cap. The mixture was shaken
and left to stand at room temperature
for 20 min in the dark. The absorbance
of the resulting solution was measured
spectrophotometrically at 517 nm. The
radical scavenging activity was measured as
a decrease in the absorbance of DPPH and
calculated by:
ASample (517 nm)
Scavenging effect (%) = 1 x 100
AControl (517 nm)


Ferric reducing power assay (FRAP)
Ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay
(FRAP) was performed according to a
modified method described by Benzie and
Strain (1996) with some modifications.
Briefly, 0.1 ml of extract was mixed with
2.9 ml of FRAP reagent. The mixture was
incubated in the dark for 1 h to ensure all
the samples reacted with the solvent. Then,
the absorbance was determined at 593 nm
against a blank that was prepared using
distilled water. FRAP reagent should be
pre-warmed at 37 C and should always be
freshly prepared by mixing 10 mM 2,4,6-tris
(1-pyridyl)-5-triazine (TPTZ) solution in
40mM HCl with 20 mM FeCl3. 6H2O and
0.3 M acetate buffer, pH 3.6. A calibration
curve was prepared using trolox as a
standard (200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 M,
R2 = 0.991). FRAP values were expressed
on a fresh weight basis as micromoles of
trolox equivalent per gram of sample (M
trolox equivalent/g fresh weight).

Rancimat method
The Rancimat method was determined
according to the procedure of Metrohm
Application Bulletin No. 204/1e (1993).
Margarine was used as the lipid substrate
to evaluate the lipid oxidation inhibition
activity of guava leaves and seeds extracts,
ascorbic acid and BHA/BHT. The Metrohm
Rancimat 743 (Herisau, Switzerland) was
55

Antioxidants in leaves and seeds of pink guava

employed for the determination of induction

time of margarine (control sample) and
margarine with addition of natural and
synthetic antioxidants. Three grams of
margarine was accurately weighed and
the extracts were added directly to the
margarine at a concentration of 200 ppm.
BHA/BHT and ascorbic acid were mixed
with the margarine for a comparative study
at their legal limit of 200 ppm (Food Act
1983 and Food Regulations 1985). Each
of the margarine samples were weighed in
individual reaction vessels of the instrument
and the vessels were placed in a heating
block for 10 min to preheat the sample. Air
was then supplied by a built-in-pump at a
flow rate of 20 litres/h. The temperature was
adjusted to 112.5 C and absorption vessels
were connected with reaction vessels via
teflon tubing after being filled with 60 ml
deionised water. The measuring electrodes
were immersed in water, ensuring that each
one was in its correct position for recording
the conductivity. The oxidative stability
was expressed as induction time while
antioxidant index (AI) was calculated from
the measured induction times according to
Forster et al. (2001) using the following
formula:

Induction time of margarine oxidation

with antioxidant
AI =

Induction time of margarine oxidation
without antioxidant
Antimicrobial analysis
The antimicrobial activity of the plant
extracts were determined by the disc

diffusion method (Ciriaco 1978). Six types

of microorganisms were chosen for this test
representing bacteria gram positive (Bacillus
subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus),
bacteria gram negative (Escherichia coli and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa), yeast (Candida
albicans) and fungi (Aspergillus niger). The
controls used for this test were penincilin G
for bacteria and chloramphenicol for yeast
and fungi. The microorganisms studied
are clinically important as they cause
several infections, foodborne diseases,
spoilages, skin infections and it is essential
to overcome them through some active
therapeutic agents.
Statistical analysis
Experimental data were analysed by analysis
of variance (ANOVA) and the significant
differences among means were determined
by Duncans multiple range test (DMRT)
using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS
2008) computing program. The entire
sample was replicated three times during
each experiment.
Results and discussion
Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of
pink guava leaves and seeds extracts
The results for total phenolic and total
flavonoid content are presented in Table1.
The data clearly showed that guava leaves
contain more phenolic and flavanoid
contents than guava seeds. Our results
were similar to the previous study obtained
by Ojan and Nihorimbere (2004) where
the total phenolic content in dried guava
leaves was remarkably hight (575.3 15.5

Table 1. Total phenolic content and total flavonoid content of pink guava
leaves and seeds extracts
Samples

Total phenolic content

(mg/100 g GAE)

Total flavonoid content

(mg/100 g CAE)

Guava leaves extract

Guava seeds extract

368.61 25.85a
79.03 3.48b

162.92 19.73a
83.97 6.32b

Data were obtained from triplicate samples.

Means with different letters within the same column are significantly
different at p <0.05

56

W.Z. Wan Nur Zahidah, A. Noriham and M.N. Zainon

Effect of pink guava leaves and seeds

extract on DPPH scavenging activities
The abilities of extracts from guava seeds
and leaves to scavenge the DPPH radical
in comparison with synthetic antioxidant
(BHA/BHT) are shown in Figure 1. Results
are expressed as a percentage of the ratio of
the decrease in absorbance at 517 nm. The
scavenging activity of the guava leaves and
seeds extracts on inhibition of the DPPH
radical was related to the amounts of the
extracts added. BHA/BHT was observed
to have higher scavenging effect than the
plant extracts. The DPPH radical scavenging

120
100

% scavenging

mg/100 g GAE). Studies from Wojdylo et al.

(2007) also revealed that the total phenolic
content varied widely in herb materials
ranging from 0.00 15.2mg/100 g GAE dry
weight. Guava leaves extracts are a potential
source of natural antioxidants (Ojan and
Nihorimbere 2004). These antioxidant
properties are associated with its phenolic
compounds such as ferulic acid, quercetin,
guavin B, ascorbic acid, gallic acid and
caffeic acid (Thaipong et al. 2005). For total
flavonoids, the results comply with the study
by Marinova et al. (2005) whereby the total
flavonoid content in fruits were in the range
of 15.0 190.0 mg/100 g CAE.

Plant derived antioxidants, especially
polyphenols and flavonoids, have been
ascribed to properties like anticancer,
anti-diabetic, anti-aging and prevention of
cardiovascular diseases (Dixon et al. 2005).
The action of polyphenols is believed to
be mainly due to redox properties, which
play an important role in adsorbing and
neutralizing free radicals, quenching singlet
and triplet oxygen or decomposing peroxides
(Birt et al. 2001). They contain conjugated
ring structures and hydroxyl groups that
have the potential to function as antioxidants
in vitro or cell free systems by scavenging
superoxide anion, singlet oxygen, lipid
peroxyradicals and stabilizing free radicals
involved in oxidative processes through
hydrogenation or complexing with oxidizing
species.

80

60

20
-20

40
0

GLE
GSE
BHA/BHT

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

conc (ppm)

Figure 1. Scavenging power of pink guava leaves

and seeds extract at different concentrations

ability of the extracts and standards is in the

following order: BHT (96%) > guava leaves
extract (90%) > guava seeds extract (36%)
at 200 g/ml (200 ppm) concentration. The
results showed high scavenging effect of the
leaves as compared to seeds extract.

According to Naik et al. (2003),
antioxidants interact with DPPH radicals by
either transferring an electron or hydrogen
atom to DPPH, thus neutralizing its free
radical character. The colour changes from
purple to yellow and its absorbance at
wavelength 517 nm decreases. Generally,
the antioxidant activity depends on the
extract concentration. Increase in antioxidant
activity was found with increasing extract
concentration, but the concentration leading
to maximum antioxidant activity is closely
dependent on the ability of the extracts
to fully inhibit the free radicals. From the
present results, the scavenging activity
increased as the concentration of BHA/
BHT and guava leaves extract increased
until it reached 200 g/ml. Meanwhile,
the scavenging effect of guava seeds also
increased with increasing concentration
but at a lower rate. At this concentration
(200 g/ml), it can be considered as a full
absorption inhibition of DPPH because after
completing the reaction, the scavenging
activity plateaus off and the final solution
was observed to be yellowish in colour
(Miliauskas et al. 2004). Yepez et al. (2002),
in their studies, also observed that the free
radical scavenging reaction was completed
57

Antioxidants in leaves and seeds of pink guava

58

Sample

FRAP value (mM

trolox equivalent/g)

116.0 x 103 11.42a

13.3 x 103 1.96b

Guava leaves extract

Guava seeds extract

Data were obtained from triplicate samples.

Means with different letters within the same
column are significantly different at p <0.05

Table 3. Antioxidant index (AI) of margarine

oxidation by aqueous extracts of guava leaves
and seeds and synthetic antioxidants
Sample

Control
Guava leaves extract
Guava seeds extract
Ascorbic acid
BHA/BHT

Antioxidant Index (AI)

1.000
1.722
1.248
1.290
1.364

0.00c
0.134a
0.217b
0.06b
0.166b

Data were obtained from triplicate samples.

Means with different letters within the same
column are significantly different at p<0.05
30

Control
BHA/BHT

25

Asc acid
Leaves

Seeds

20
15
10
5

s
ed
Se

s
ve
Le
a

cid
ca
As

A/
BH

nt

ro

0
BH

Oxidative stability test - Rancimat method

Oxidative stability of margarine is affected
by the addition of aqueous extract of guava
leaves and seeds, ascorbic acid and BHA/
BHT at a level of 200 ppm at 112.5 C.
Table 3 shows the antioxidant index (AI)
while Figure 2 shows the induction period

Table 2. Ferric reducing antioxidant power

(FRAP) of guava leaves and seeds extracts

Co

Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)

in pink guava leaves and seeds extracts
The FRAP value was determined from
regression equation of calibration curve
(y = 0.2904x 0.1905, R = 0.9991) and
expressed in mM trolox equivalents in each
of the selected sample extracts as shown in
Table 2.

Medicinal herbs can be classified
into their antioxidant capacity as very
low FRAP (<10 M/100 g), low FRAP
(10 50 M/100 g), good FRAP (50
100 M/100g), high FRAP (100 500
M/100g) and very high FRAP (>500
M/100 g) (Wojdylo et al. 2007). Table 2
shows that the guava leaves extract had a
high FRAP value compared to the guava
seeds extract. FRAP assay was used to
evaluate the antioxidant activities of the
samples due to the following reasons.
Firstly, FRAP assay treats the antioxidants in
the samples as reductants in a redox-linked
colorimetric reaction (Huang et al. 2005).
Secondly, the procedure of FRAP assay is
relatively simple and easy to standardize.
Although some researchers use the same
FRAP assay principle, discrepancies may
still exists because the antioxidant activities
of samples could be influenced by the
geographical origin, cultivar and harvest or
storage time. The relevant chemical reaction
of the FRAP method involves a single
electron reaction between Fe (TPTZ)2 (III)
and a single electron donor ArOH (Huang et
al. 2005).

(IP) of margarine oxidation as affected

by the aqueous extracts and synthetic
antioxidant. The higher the induction
period of margarine with antioxidant added,
the better the antioxidant activity of the
samples. Antioxidant activity, as determined
with the Rancimat method, decreased in

Induction time (h)

when the reaction reached a plateau.

However, Huang et al. (2004) noted that the
activity started to decrease with increasing
concentration after a critical point and
attributed it to interfering substances.

Figure 2. Induction time of fats after addition of

plant extracts and synthetic antioxidants

Data were obtained from triplicate samples. Means with different small letters (a-b) within the same row are significantly different (p <0.05) and means with the
different capital letters (A-B) within the same column are significantly different (p <0.05). ND = not detected.
= no inhibition zone

18.1A

16.1B

16.75B

8.75Bb
9.25Bb
10.5Bb
17.4Ba

11.5Ab
12.5Ab
13.5Ab
19.0 Aa

14.5C

ND
ND
ND
ND
ND

Guava seeds
Guava leaves
100
150
200
Penincilin G
Chloramphenicol
H20

Candida albicans
(Yeast)
Escherichia coli
(Gram negative)
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(Gram negative)
Staphylococcus aureus
(Gram positive)
Bacillus subtilis
(Gram positive)

Inhibition zone (mm)

Extract (mg/ml)

Table 4. Antimicrobial activity of guava leaves and seeds extracts

Antimicrobial activity of pink guava leaves

and seeds extracts
The inhibitory effects of aqueous extracts
of Psidium guajava leaves and seeds were
determined using the disc diffusion method.
The results in Table 4 indicated that the
extracts from the guava leaves showed
inhibitory growth of some of the tested
microorganisms. For guava seeds extract,
no antimicrobial activity was found against
bacteria tested. The extracts only revealed
antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive
bacteria (B. subtilis and S. aureus) but
showed no antimicrobial activity against
Gram-negative bacteria (P. aeruginosa
and E. coli), yeast (C. albicans) and fungi
(A.niger). Chandarana et al. (2005) reported
similar results of various ginger species
in which there was no inhibition zone of
Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative
bacteria have an outer membrane consisting
of lipoprotein and lipopolysaccharide which
is selectively permeable and thus regulates
access to underlying structures (Chopra and
Greenwood 2001). This renders the Gramnegative bacteria generally less susceptible
to plant extracts than the Gram-positive
bacteria. An inhibition zone of less than
9mm diameter is considered as not active,
9 12 mm as moderately active, 13 18

Aspergillus niger
(Fungi)

the following order: leaves > BHA/BHT >

ascorbic acid > seeds > control.

The oxidation of margarine in the
Rancimat method showed the most realistic
prediction of extracts behaviour in the food
system (Becker et al. 2004). The addition
of antioxidants markedly extended the
induction period of margarine oxidation.
All natural and synthetic antioxidants
significantly delayed the development of
oxidative destruction in margarine during
oxidation. The extension of induction period
by addition of an antioxidant has been
related to the antioxidant efficacy which is
sometimes expressed as antioxidant index or
protection factor (Pf) where Pf is the ratio
of the induction periods in the presence and
absence of additives (Shahidi 1997).

ND

W.Z. Wan Nur Zahidah, A. Noriham and M.N. Zainon

59

Antioxidants in leaves and seeds of pink guava

mm as active and >18 mm as very active

(Smania et al. 1995).

The most susceptible microorganism
towards plant extracts was B. subtilis
followed by S. aureus. Screening for
antibacterial activity of 191 plant extracts
belonging to 30 families of plants from
Sabah, Malaysia, showed similar results
(Chung et al. 2004). About 52% of the
extracts inhibited S. aureus. The same
results was also reported by Chan et al.
(2007) where leaves from Etlingera species
from Sabah, Malaysia, showed stronger
antibacterial activity to Gram-positive
bacteria including B. cereus, S. aureus and
M. luteus.
Conclusion
The extracts obtained from pink guava
leaves were found to possess strong
antioxidant and antimicrobial activity
compared to pink guava seeds extract.
This could be due to the high phenolic
compounds present in the leaves. Oxidative
stability test also showed that guava leaves
extract exhibited high antioxidant index (AI)
than the seeds extract. Hence, pink guava
leaves extract has the potential to be used as
a functional food ingredient or as a bioactive
ingredient in the food and pharmaceutical
industry.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank MOSTI
for the NSF scholarship, Golden Hope,
Sitiawan, Perak, for supplying the raw
materials and UiTM for the lab facilities.
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Antioxidants in leaves and seeds of pink guava

Abstrak
Aktiviti antioksidan dan antimikrob daun dan biji jambu batu merah
(Psidiumguajava L.) telah dikaji. Analisis untuk menentukan jumlah kandungan
fenol (TPC), jumlah kandungan flavonoid (TFC), kuasa menghapus sisa1,
1-difenil-2-pikrilhidrazil (DPPH) dan kuasa penurunan ferik dalam antioksida
(FRAP) telah dijalankan. Kestabilan oksida dalam sistem lemak juga dilakukan
dengan kaedah Ransimat. Aktiviti antimikrob ditentukan dengan menggunakan
kaedah resapan cakera terhadap bakteria Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis,
Staphylococcus aureus dan Pseudomonas aeruginosa serta kulat Aspergillus
niger dan Candida albicans. Keputusan menunjukkan ekstrak daun jambu batu
merah mempunyai TPC (368.61 25.85 mg/100 g GAE) yang lebih tinggi
berbanding ekstrak biji jambu batu merah (79.03 3.48 mg/100 g GAE). TFC
juga menunjukkan trend yang sama dengan ekstrak daun dengan mempunyai nilai
lebih tinggi daripada ekstrak biji. Ekstrak daun jambu batu merah menunjukkan
kecekapan menghapus sisa radikal bebas DPPH yang tinggi (90%) sementara
ekstrak biji hanya mampu menghapus sisa radikal bebas sebanyak 36%. Nilai
FRAP bagi daun jambu batu merah juga lebih tinggi daripada biji. Dengan
menggunakan kaedah Rancimat, semua ekstrak melambatkan pemusnahan
oksida dalam margerin dengan berkesan. Ujian antimikrob menunjukkan ekstrak
daun jambu batu merah memberi kesan antimikrob yang kuat ke atas bakteria
BacillusSubtilis dan Staphylococcus aureus. Ekstrak daun jambu batu merah
mempunyai potensi untuk digunakan sebagai ramuan makanan berfungsi atau
sebagai bahan bioaktif dalam industri makanan dan farmaseutikal.

Accepted for publication on 1 April 2013

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