Determination of chemical composition and evaluation of the antioxidant activity of alcoholic extracts from the fruits of Sterculia lanceolata Cav. In Việt Nam

Sterculia lanceolata Cav. is a tropical medicinal plant distributed in several Southeast Asian countries and traditionally utilized for the treatment of various ailments. The present study investigated the phytochemical constituents and antioxidant activity of the ethanolic fruit extract of Sterculia lanceolata collected in Thai Nguyen Province, Viet Nam. Qualitative phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of several major groups of secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, and saponins. Chemical profiling by GC/FID and GC/MS analyses tentatively identified more than 70 compounds belonging to different chemical classes such as phenolic derivatives, alkaloid-related compounds, heterocyclic nitrogen compounds, flavonoid-related metabolites, aromatic amides, esters, and steroid-related constituents. Among the detected compounds, phenolic derivatives and nitrogen-containing heterocycles represented important components of the extract. The antioxidant activity of the ethanolic extract was evaluated using the DPPH radical scavenging assay. The extract demonstrated concentration-dependent free radical scavenging activity, although lower than that of vitamin C, indicating considerable antioxidant potential. The observed activity may be associated with the combined effects of phenolic and flavonoid compounds together with other bioactive metabolites detected in the extract. These findings provide scientific evidence supporting the potential utilization of Sterculia lanceolata fruits as a natural source of antioxidant compounds for pharmaceutical and functional food applications.