Antioxidant and Tyrosinase Inhibitory Activities of Unripe and Ripe Fruit and Seed Extracts of Eugenia uniflora

Eugenia uniflora is widely distributed in Java island and used in traditional medicine for thetreatment of many ailments. This study aims to compare the bioactivity of the seeds and pericarpof the unripe and ripe fruits of E. uniflora. The plant parts were extracted by maceration inethanol. Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of the extracts was carried outaccording to standard methods. The antioxidant activity was performed using the 2,2-diphenyl1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)assays. The antiaging potential was assessed using the tyrosinase inhibitory assay.Phytochemical screening show the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, and terpenoids in the seedand fruit extracts of E. uniflora. The seeds contain more total phenolic and flavonoid contents, aswell as a higher antioxidant activity than the fruits. The unripe seeds had the highest antioxidantactivity in the DPPH assay with IC50 value of 4.70 µg/mL, which was comparable to that ofquercetin (IC50 = 4.76 µg/mL). In the FRAP assay, the ripe fruits exhibited the highestantioxidant activity with a FRAP value of 4245.32 µMFSE/100 g extract. The anti-tyrosinaseactivity assay showed that the unripe and ripe seeds of E. uniflora have weak tyrosinaseinhibitory activity with IC50 of 309.96 and 539.67 µg/mL, respectively compared to kojic acidwith IC50 of 27.54 µg/mL. In contrast, the unripe and ripe fruits showed no anti-tyrosinaseactivity. Therefore, E. uniflora seeds possesses higher potential as antioxidant and antiagingagent than E. uniflora fruits.