ABSTRACT Horsfieldia parviflora (Myristicaceae) is a relatively underexplored tropical plant with potential antioxidant properties. This study employed an integrated experimental and in silico approach to characterize its phytochemical profile and evaluate its interaction with heme oxygenase, a key enzyme involved in oxidative stress regulation. Methanolic leaf extract was sequentially partitioned with n ‐hexane, ethyl acetate, and n ‐butanol. Total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were determined spectrophotometrically, while antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays. LC–MS/MS analysis was performed to identify major metabolites, followed by molecular docking to predict their binding affinities toward heme oxygenase. Among the fractions, the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity with DPPH and ABTS IC 50 values of 24.605 ± 2.16 and 50.892 ± 3.87 µg/mL, respectively (positive control: 0.615 ± 0.01 µg/mL). In the FRAP assay, this fraction showed a ferric reducing antioxidant capacity of 51.916 µmol Fe 2 + /g extract, which correlated with its relatively high phenolic (3.283 ± 0.05 mg GAE/g extract) and flavonoid contents (14.213 ± 1.01 mg QE/g extract). LC–MS/MS profiling revealed flavonoids, phenolic acids, and lignans as the predominant constituents. Molecular docking analysis indicated favorable binding affinities of flavonoid derivatives (−4.41 to −8.65 kcal/mol), with tetrabutyltetrahydroxybenzophenol showing the most stable interaction with the enzyme. Overall, these findings highlight H. parviflora as a promising source of natural antioxidants and provide molecular insights supporting its potential for further pharmaceutical development.
Megawati et al. (Wed,) studied this question.