The capacity of the prepared extracts to scavenge the stable free radical1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) was monitored according to the method described by Erkan et al.[13]. A freshly prepared DPPH solution exhibited a deep purple color with a
maximum absorption at 515nm.A volume of1.5mL DPPH (0.2 mM) in ethanol was added to1.5mL of varying concentrations of test samples.The reaction mixture was then kept at room temperature in a dark chamber for 30min.The change in color
from deep violet to light yellow was measured at 515nmina U-2000 spectrophotometer (Hitachi,Ltd,Tokyo,Japan).
A blank experiment was also carried out by applying the same procedureto a solution without the test material.The decrease in absorbance was then converted to percentage antioxidant activity using the equation below: