Chromatographic fingerprinting and free-radical scavenging activity of ethanol extracts of Muntingia calabura L. leaves and stems

M. calabura exhibited very high antioxidant activity in its leaves and stems ethanol extracts, both of which are used in traditional medicine. The TLC results demonstrated the presence of diverse secondary metabolites in the leaf and stem ethanol extracts, indicating that the antioxidant activity, including other bioactivities may be attributed to these phytochemical constituents. This paper has reported for the first time the TLC fingerprinting of M. calabura using visible light, UV 254 nm, UV 366 and post-derivatization with vanillin-spray to visualize separate spots on TLC plates.