Total Phenolic Contents and Antioxidant Capacities of Selected Chinese Medicinal Plants

• Main Authors: Feng-Lin Song, Ren-You Gan, Yuan Zhang, Qin Xiao, Lei Kuang, Hua-Bin Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2010-06-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: medicinal plant; phenolic content; antioxidant capacity
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/11/6/2362/

Antioxidant capacities of 56 selected Chinese medicinal plants were evaluated using the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, and their total phenolic content was measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The strong correlation between TEAC value and FRAP value suggested that the antioxidants in these plants possess free radical scavenging activity and oxidant reducing power, and the high positive correlation between antioxidant capacities and total phenolic content implied that phenolic compounds are a major contributor to the antioxidant activity of these plants. The results showed that Dioscorea bulbifera, Eriobotrya japonica, Tussilago farfara and Ephedra sinica could be potential rich sources of natural antioxidants.