Isolation of hippuric acid from buffalo urine and its antioxidant activity

Abstract

Hippuric acid is a main component present in buffalo urine. Hippuric acid is a crystalline compound possess optical property. The aim of the present work is to isolate hippuric acid (HA) from the buffalo urine and evaluate its antioxidant activity. The hippuric acid crystals were isolated from the buffalo’s urine by crystallization method and characterized using spectral techniques such as UV-Visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis), Infrared spectrophotometer (IR) and X-ray diffraction studies (XRD). The antioxidant activity of HA was determined using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical (DPPH). The spectral characterization in comparison with the literature data confirmed the presence of hippuric acid. The antioxidant activity of HA was comparable with that of the gallic acid. It is concluded that buffalo urine is a natural source of HA and it could be explored for commercial purpose.