Molecules 2012, 17(11), 13457-13472; doi:10.3390/molecules171113457
Article

Antioxidant Ability and Mechanism of Rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephala

Xican Li 1,†,* email, Jian Lin 1,† , Weijuan Han 1 , Wenqiong Mai 1 , Li Wang 1 , Qiang Li 1 , Miaofang Lin 1 , Mingsong Bai 1 , Lishan Zhang 1  and Dongfeng Chen 2,* email
1 School of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510006, China 2 School of Basic Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510006, China † These authors contributed equally to this work.
* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 18 October 2012; in revised form: 7 November 2012 / Accepted: 8 November 2012 / Published: 13 November 2012
(This article belongs to the Section Medicinal Chemistry)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [1148 KB, Updated Version, uploaded 14 November 2012 13:22 CET]
The original version is still available [1148 KB, uploaded 13 November 2012 13:28 CET]
Abstract: Rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephala (AM) has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for about 2,000 years. In the study, we firstly determined the antioxidant levels of five AM extracts by •OH-scavenging, •O2−-scavenging, Fe2+-chelating, Cu2+-chelating, DPPH·-scavenging, and ABTS+·-scavenging assays. After measurement of the chemical contents in five AM extracts, we quantitatively analyzed the correlations between antioxidant levels and chemical contents. It was observed that total phenolics and total flavonoids had significant positive correlations with antioxidant levels (R = 0.685 and 0.479, respectively). In contrast, total sugars and total saponins presented lower correlations with antioxidant levels (R = −0.272 and 0.244, respectively). It means that antioxidant activity of AM should be attributed to total phenolics (including phenolic acids and flavonoids), and not total sugars and total saponins. Further analysis indicated that phenolic acids exhibited higher R values with radical-scavenging assays (R = 0.32–1.00), while flavonoids showed higher R values with metal-chelating assays (R= 0.86 and 0.90). In conclusion, AM exerts its antioxidant effect through metal-chelating, and radical-scavenging which is via donating hydrogen atom and donating electron. Its metal-chelating may result from flavonoids, while its radical-scavenging can be attributed to phenolic acids, especially caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and protocatechuic acid.
Keywords: Rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephala; baizhu; antioxidant activity; metal chelating; radical-scavening; phenolic acid

Supplementary Files

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Li, X.; Lin, J.; Han, W.; Mai, W.; Wang, L.; Li, Q.; Lin, M.; Bai, M.; Zhang, L.; Chen, D. Antioxidant Ability and Mechanism of Rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephala. Molecules 2012, 17, 13457-13472.

AMA Style

Li X, Lin J, Han W, Mai W, Wang L, Li Q, Lin M, Bai M, Zhang L, Chen D. Antioxidant Ability and Mechanism of Rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephala. Molecules. 2012; 17(11):13457-13472.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Li, Xican; Lin, Jian; Han, Weijuan; Mai, Wenqiong; Wang, Li; Li, Qiang; Lin, Miaofang; Bai, Mingsong; Zhang, Lishan; Chen, Dongfeng. 2012. "Antioxidant Ability and Mechanism of Rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephala." Molecules 17, no. 11: 13457-13472.

Molecules EISSN 1420-3049 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert