Antioxidant and Free Radical Scavenging Activities of Different Plant Parts from Two Erica Species

Abstract

Aqueous extractions from two species of Erica consumed as infusions in several countries to heal ailments were investigated for their phenolic and flavonoid contents, along with antioxidant capacity and radical scavenging capacity using total antioxidant activity, ferric-reducing antioxidant power, reducing power, 1,1diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2-2'-azino-bis(3 ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radicals, respectively. Antioxidant properties and total phenolic content differed significantly among these plants. Aqueous extracts of leaves possessed, on average, the highest antioxidant capacity and phenolic content (34.09 Ϯ 10.81 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g dry weight and 30.59 Ϯ 10.19 mg gallic acid equivalent/ g dry weight, respectively) of all three plant parts. A significant correlation (r 2 = 0.952) between antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content was found, indicating that phenolic compounds are the major contributors to the antioxidant properties of these plants. Upon application of hierarchical cluster analysis to the results obtained, leaves with flowers were grouped in one cluster, whereas branches remained in another cluster, showing little interference from the collection site or species factors. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSResults obtained support that there may exist benefits for health from ingesting this plant infusions and that these plants have a great potential to serve as a cheap antioxidant source. bs_bs_banner Journal of Food Quality

In vitro antioxidant capacities and phenolic contents of four Erica L. (Ericaceae) taxa native to Turkey

“…The leaves were found to be have the highest total phenolic (30.6 mg GAE/g) and flavonoid (4 mg quercetin equivalent/g) contents. In all tests, the leaves usually showed the highest antioxidant activity [28]. Furthermore, phenylethanoids (RC50= 11.11±10 -2 to 2.44±10 -5 mg/mL) and flavonoids (RC50= 15.6×10 −3 to 17.2×10 −3 mg/mL) obtained from the methanol extract of E. arborea leaf exhibited significant antioxidant capacity in DPPH assay [11,12].…”

“…Genus Erica has been investigated for their biological acitivites such as antiulcer [17], anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive [18], antimicrobial [16,[19][20][21][22], antilithic [23] and cytotoxic [21,24] activities. There are several reports on the antioxidant activity of Erica species [21,22] except E. arborea [11,12,21,[25][26][27][28].…”

Phenolics extraction from sweet potato peels: modelling and optimization by response surface modelling and artificial neural network

“…Total phenolic content (TPC), ABTS radical cation scavenging activity (ABTS assay) and DPPH free radical scavenging activity (DPPH assay) were determined regarding the method described previously by Prieto et al (1999), Re et al (1999) and Blois (1958), respectively, with the minor modifications indicated in Nunes et al 2012. In addition, for DPPH assay absolute ethanol (100 %) was used as solvent.…”

Effect of Erica australis extract on Caco-2 cells, fibroblasts and selected pathogenic bacteria responsible for wound infection

“…Aqueous 67 extracts from two species of this plant, Erica australis L. and Erica arborea L., were 68 previously studied by our group and were found to possess relatively high activities, 69 especially concerning the 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical (IC 50 of 60 70 µg/mL) (Nunes, et al, 2012 The extraction was carried in a Soxhlet device with Electrothermal heating mantles 125 (Electrothermal, Essex, UK), using 0.4 g of plant material and 60 mL of water or methanol.…”