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Vitex doniana is a very popular plant used in traditional medicine in Nigeria. It belong to the family of verbenaceae. The antioxidant activity of the crude extract of Vitex doniana was studied. The crude extracts (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol) were obtained

Vitex doniana is a very popular plant used in traditional medicine in Nigeria. It belong to the family of verbenaceae. The antioxidant activity of the crude extract of Vitex doniana was studied. The crude extracts (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol) were obtained using cold maceration method by soaking 100 g of the sample in 250 mL hexane for 72 hours with frequent agitation. The procedure was repeated on the residue using chloroform, acetone and methanol sequentially in order of polarity. The extracts were analyzed for their antioxidant activity using 2,2- diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical to evaluate their free radical scavenging activity. Vitamin C was used as the standard antioxidant. The results showed that the extracts inhibited DPPH radical in a concentration of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9 mg/L and methanol extract of Vitex doniana showing highest inhibition (82.29%, 78.57%, 77.63%, 75.16% and 72.67%) which was not significantly different from vitamin C (66.57,67.41,71.31,76.60 and 85.52). Results have shown that Vitex doniana Leaf extracts have the ability to protect or inhibit damage induced by free radical species. Key words: Antioxidant, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl, leaf extracts, Vitex doniana