Antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and antifungal activity of raw and cooked stinky beans (Parkia speciosa)

Stinky beans (Parkia speciosa) is a traditional legume well-known for its uses as a medicine to treat various ailments. The objective of this research was to determine the presence of phytochemicals, estimate the total phenol and flavonoid content and assess the antioxidant activity, antidiabetic activity, anti-inflammatory activity and antifungal activity of ethanol extract of raw and cooked stinky beans seeds using in vitro assays. The phytochemicals namely terpenoids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, carbohydrates, saponins and proteins were present in both raw and cooked extracts, while alkaloids and saponins were not detected. Steroids was present in the raw extract but absent in the cooked extract. The total phenol content of raw stinky beans (93.17±8.18 mg GAE/g) was non-significantly higher than the cooked stinky beans (81.23±4.97 mg GAE/g) extract. On the other hand, the total flavonoid content of cooked stinky beans (81.74±1.34 mg QE/g) was significantly higher than the raw stinky beans (13.25±0.63 mg QE/g) extract. Both raw and cooked stinky beans possessed excellent scavenging and reducing activity. However, the cooked exert better antioxidant activity compared to the raw. On the other hand, the raw stinky beans exhibit better antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory activity compared to the cooked ones. Both raw and cooked stinky beans exhibited antifungal activity against Candida krusei, Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis organisms. The findings of this study indicate that stinky beans both in the raw and cooked form possess excellent health benefits and have high potential to be further explored in the world of nutrition and health.