Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of 112 traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer

TY - JOUR

T1 - Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of 112 traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer

AU - Cai, Yizhong

AU - Luo, Qiong

AU - Sun, Mei

AU - Corke, Harold

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by a University of Hong Kong Faculty of Science Research Collaboration Grant.

PY - 2004/3/12

Y1 - 2004/3/12

N2 - Cancer prevention and treatment using traditional Chinese medicines have attracted increasing interest. This study characterizes antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer, comprising 112 species from 50 plant families. The improved ABTS•+ method was used to systematically assess the total antioxidant capacity (Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, TEAC) of the medicinal extracts. The TEAC values and total phenolic content for methanolic extracts of herbs ranged from 46.7 to 17,323 μmol Trolox equivalent/100 g dry weight (DW), and from 0.22 to 50.3 g of gallic acid equivalent/100 g DW, respectively. A positive, significant linear relationship between antioxidant activity and total phenolic content (all R2 values≥0.95) showed that phenolic compounds were the dominant antioxidant components in the tested medicinal herbs. Major types of phenolic compounds from most of the tested herbs were preliminarily identified and analyzed, and mainly included phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, lignans, quinones, stilbenes, and curcuminoids. These medicinal herbs exhibited far stronger antioxidant activity and contained significantly higher levels of phenolics than common vegetables and fruits. Traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer might be potential sources of potent natural antioxidants and beneficial chemopreventive agents.

AB - Cancer prevention and treatment using traditional Chinese medicines have attracted increasing interest. This study characterizes antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer, comprising 112 species from 50 plant families. The improved ABTS•+ method was used to systematically assess the total antioxidant capacity (Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, TEAC) of the medicinal extracts. The TEAC values and total phenolic content for methanolic extracts of herbs ranged from 46.7 to 17,323 μmol Trolox equivalent/100 g dry weight (DW), and from 0.22 to 50.3 g of gallic acid equivalent/100 g DW, respectively. A positive, significant linear relationship between antioxidant activity and total phenolic content (all R2 values≥0.95) showed that phenolic compounds were the dominant antioxidant components in the tested medicinal herbs. Major types of phenolic compounds from most of the tested herbs were preliminarily identified and analyzed, and mainly included phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, lignans, quinones, stilbenes, and curcuminoids. These medicinal herbs exhibited far stronger antioxidant activity and contained significantly higher levels of phenolics than common vegetables and fruits. Traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer might be potential sources of potent natural antioxidants and beneficial chemopreventive agents.

KW - ABTS

KW - Anticancer

KW - Antioxidant activity

KW - Flavonoids

KW - Free radical

KW - Phenolic acids

KW - Phenolic compounds

KW - Quinones

KW - Tannins

KW - Traditional Chinese Medicines

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=1142297395&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.lfs.2003.09.047

DO - 10.1016/j.lfs.2003.09.047

M3 - 文章

C2 - 14969719

AN - SCOPUS:1142297395

SN - 0024-3205

VL - 74

SP - 2157

EP - 2184

JO - Life Sciences

JF - Life Sciences

IS - 17

ER -