In vitro antimutagenic, antioxidant activities and total phenolics of clove (Syzygium aromaticum L.) seed extracts.

The present work explores antimutagenic and antioxidant potential as well as total phenolics of aqueous and acidified methanol extractable components from clove (Syzygium aromaticum L.) seed. The magnitude of antimutagenic activity of clove seed extracts (CSE) against two mutant bacterial strains: S. typhimurium TA98 and S. typhimurium TA100 (Ames bacterial test) ranged from 34.11-79.74%. Antioxidant activity in terms of measurement of DPPH radical scavenging capacity and inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation was noted to be 71.16-94.58% and 54.96-86.89%, respectively. CSE also exhibited an appreciable amount of total phenolics with contribution between 22.80 and 115.33 GAE mg/100g. A strong correlation between total phenolics and tested biological activities were recorded. The results of this study advocate that clove seed can be explored as a viable source of bioactives for the development of chemotherapeutic drugs against cancer in addition to acting as nutraceutical and functional food ingredient.