Evaluation of the Antioxidant Activity of Sida Cordifolia

locally known as asam jawa belongs to the family

Leguminosae and grows naturally in many tropical and

subtropical regions. Various parts of the plants are used as

food components and in herbal medicine. The T. indica

fruits have irregular curved pods. When ripe, the pods are

filled with brown or reddish-brown pulp that coats the

seeds. The pulp has a sweet/sour taste and is widely used as

flavouring in cooking. There are wide differences in fruit

size and flavour in seedling trees. The Indian types have

longer pods with 6-12 seeds, while the West Indian types

have shorter pods, containing only 3-6 seeds. The pulp is

believed to be rich in vitamins and minerals such as niacin

and calcium, respectively [27]. The T. indica fruit pulp is

commonly used in traditional medicine including as a

digestive, laxative, expectorant and an antipyretic agent.

Biochemical analysis in support of the beneficial effects

of the T. indica fruit pulp extracts includes a study by

Martinello et al. [26] who showed that the T. indica fruit

extracts were able to decrease the levels of serum cholesterol

and triglycerides in hypercholesterolaemic hamsters.

The T. indica fruit pulps have also been shown to contain

phenolic antioxidants such as epicatechins [44] that were

able to inhibit low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation in

vitro [45]. Chan et al. [9] had shown that epicatechins from

jasmine green tea were able to reduce serum levels of TG,

and cholesterol in hamsters fed a high-fat diet, but the

hypolipidaemic effects were not through the inhibition of

liver HMGCoA reductase or intestinal ACAT. They further

postulated that the observed hypolipidaemic effects of

epicatechins were probably associated with the inhibition

of absorption of dietary fat, cholesterol or reabsorption of

bile acids [9]. Another group of researchers, Landi

Librandi