The medicinal plant Dendrobium nobile is an important natural antioxidant resource. To reveal the antioxidants of D. nobile, high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was employed for metabolic analysis. The H2O2-induced oxidative damage was used in human embryonic kidney 293T (H293T) cells to assess intracellular antioxidant activities. Cells incubated with flower and fruit extracts showed better cell survival, lower levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and higher catalase and superoxide dismutase activities than those incubated with root, stem, and leaf extracts (p < 0.01). A total of 13 compounds were newly identified as intracellular antioxidants by association analysis, including coniferin, galactinol, trehalose, beta-D-lactose, trigonelline, nicotinamide-N-oxide, shikimic acid, 5'-deoxy-5'-(methylthio)adenosine, salicylic acid, isorhamnetin-3-O-neohespeidoside, methylhesperidin, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and cis-aconitic acid (R2 > 0.8, Log2FC > 1, distribution > 0.1%, and p < 0.01). They showed lower molecular weight and higher polarity, compared to previously identified in vitro antioxidants in D. nobile (p < 0.01). The credibility of HPLC-MS/MS relative quantification was verified by common methods. In conclusion, some saccharides and phenols with low molecular weight and high polarity helped protect H293T cells from oxidative damage by increasing the activities of intracellular antioxidant enzymes and reducing intracellular ROS levels. The results enriched the database of safe and effective intracellular antioxidants in medicinal plants.
Keywords: CAT; H293T; ROS; SOD; medicinal plant; molecular weight; oxidative damage; phenols; polarity; saccharides.