Abstract Momordica foetida (Cucurbitaceae) is a plant mainly used in Cameroon’s folk medicine for management of many diseases including malaria, cancers and diabetes. This study aimed at evaluating the antioxidant content and activity of the methanol extracts of the whole plant and fruit of M. foetida. The results revealed the presence of antioxidants in whole plant (MEMfP) and fruit (MEMfF) extracts of M. foetida. Both extracts had comparable amount of flavonoids (19.160 ± 1.589µg QE/ g of extract vs. 22.121 ± 4.044 µg QE/ g of extract) and vitamin C (1.586 ± 0.320 µg/ g of extract vs. 1.133 ± 0.320 µg/ g of extract), but MEMfP contained higher phenolic compounds than the fruit portion (27.648 ± 0.558 µg GAE/g of extract vs. 8.220 ± 0.472 µg GAE/g of extract). The MEMfP showed higher inhibition of lipid peroxidation (IC50 = 1.275 ± 0.007 µg/mL vs. 2.135 ± 0.106 µg/mL), reduction of ferric ions (EC50 = 1.160 ± 0.010 µg/mL vs. 1.610 ± 0.020 µg/mL) and stimulation of catalase activity than MEMfF. Conclusively, both whole plant and fruit methanol extracts of M. foetida displayed antioxidant content and activity with the whole plant extract having higher antioxidant properties. These results support the use of M. foetida in the management of antioxidant linked diseases such as infectious and metabolic diseases.
Keyword: antioxidant property, fruit, Momordica foetida, oxidative stress, whole plant.