Red Dragon Peel (Hylocereus polyrhizus) as Antioxidant Source

Dragon fruit (H. polyrhizus) is a plant from South America which is easily found in tropical countries. The fruit is one of popular in Indonesia due to its unique shape, colours, and it is consumed as a beverage. However, the thickness of the peel from the fruit can cause problem in waste management. Therefore, in this study antioxidant activity from pigment and non-pigment extracts from the peel was determined. The pigment was extracted by using maceration with ethanol HCl while non-pigment extraction was carried out by using methanol followed by partition with hexane, dichloromethane, and ethyl acetate, respectively. The antioxidant activity was analyzed by using DPPH method. The results showed that the pigment extract exhibited high antioxidant activity with IC50: 159.6 ppm while ethyl acetate extract showed weak activity and the hexane and DCM showed no antioxidant activity. Therefore, the pigment from this peel possess antioxidant activity and the further investigation of antioxidant activities are needed by using different methods and to determine the chemical structure which responsible in this activity.