Antioxidant Activities of Vaccinium uliginosum L. Extract and Its Active Components

Abstract

Vaccinium uliginosum L. (also known as bog bilberry) is a low-growing deciduous shrub classified in the Ericaceae family of plants, which includes numerous Vaccinium berries, blueberries, and cranberries. Berries of the Ericaceae family are known to contain organic acids, vitamins, glycosides, and anthocyanins and have been reported to have antioxidant activity. In order to identify the antioxidative principles of V. uliginosum, we separated water extracts into polyphenol, anthocyanin-rich (pigment), and sugar/acid fractions by using ethyl acetate, acidic methanol (MeOH), and 0.01 N HCl. Antioxidant activities were assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), superoxide radical, and hydroxyl radical assays. The crude extract and fractions containing polyphenol and pigment exhibited the greatest antioxidant activities with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values of 85.8 microg/mL, 33.2 microg/mL, and 16.7 microg/mL, respectively, for the DPPH assay and 48.1 microg/mL, 83.8 microg/mL, and 51.9 microg/mL for the nonenzymatic superoxide radical assay. The fractions containing polyphenol, pigment, and sugar/acid significantly inhibited xanthine oxidase. To investigate the functional compounds from the active fractions, we purified the polyphenol fraction and separated the compounds by using chromatographic techniques. The crude extract was dissolved in MeOH and further purified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using MeOH-water (35:65 vol/vol) (with 0.04% trifluoroacetic acid) to obtain VU-EA-1 (16.6 mg), VU-EA-2 (8.5 mg), VU-EA-3 (19.8 mg), VU-EA-4 (12.8 mg), VU-EA-5 (6.5 mg), and VU-EA-6 (23.5 mg). The MeOH-washed fraction from the HPLC was concentrated and purified by reversed-phase HPLC using MeOH-water (50:50 vol/vol) to give VU-EA-10 (12.4 mg). Antioxidant activity was assessed by DPPH, superoxide radical, and hydroxyl radical assays. The isolated compounds exhibited dose-dependent antioxidant activity with IC(50) values of 7.6 microg/mL (VU-EA-10) for the DPPH assay, 67.8 microg/mL (VU-EA-4) for the nonenzymatic superoxide radical assay, and 3.7 microg/mL (VU-EA-10) and 7.6 microg/ml (VU-EA-6) for the enzymatic superoxide radical assay and 30% inhibitory concentration values of 0.58 microg/mL (VU-EA-1), 0.57 microg/mL (VU-EA-5), and 0.70 microg/mL (VU-EA-6) for the hydroxyl radical assay. In conclusion, V. uliginosum had potent antioxidative activity, and flavonoids were isolated as the main active principles.

Antioxidant activities and bioactive components in some berries

“…The crude extract and fractions containing polyphenol and pigment exhibited the greatest antioxidant activities with 50 % inhibitory concentration IC(50) values of 85.8, 33.2, and 16.7 lg/mL, respectively, for the DPPH assay, and 48.1, 83.8, and 51.9 lg/mL for the nonenzymatic superoxide radical assay. In our case, the highest antioxidant capacity was shown in water; therefore, for binding properties were used only these extracts [34]. The amount of total phenolics, anthocyanins, and ascorbic acid varied in berries depending on their maturity and varieties.…”

Mixture of Polyphenols and Anthocyanins fromVaccinium uliginosum L.Alleviates DNCB-Induced Atopic Dermatitis in NC/Nga Mice

“…Vaccinium uliginosum L . (VU), known as bog bilberry, has been reported to have antioxidant and protective effects against VU-induced skin photoaging [3, 4]. A previous study showed that the berries have an anti-inflammatory effect [5].…”

A RP‐HPLC‐DAD‐APCI/MSD method for the characterisation of medicinal Ericaceae used by the Eeyou Istchee Cree First Nations

“…Their results, based on thin-layer chromatographic comparisons with authentic standards, showed that this family is rich in fl avonoids and simple phenolics. Since then, due to the advancement of analytical instrumentation, a large number of analytical methods have been published on phenolic contents of individual Ericaceae plant species (Swaroop et al, 2005;Pawlowska et al, 2006;Burdulis et al, 2009;Kim et al, 2009). However, studies focusing on applying a single HPLC-UV-MS method to relatively larger number of Ericaceae plants are nonexisting.…”