Antioxidant activity of extracts from Acacia confusa bark and heartwood

J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Jul;49(7):3420-4. doi: 10.1021/jf0100907.

Abstract

The antioxidant activity of extracts from bark and heartwood of Acacia confusa was evaluated by various antioxidant assays, including free radical and superoxide radical scavenging assays and lipid peroxidation assay as well as hydroxyl radical-induced DNA strand scission assay. In addition, an ex vivo antioxidant assay using a flow cytometric technique was also employed in this study. The results indicate that both bark and heartwood extracts clearly have strong antioxidant effects. Similar inhibitory activities for each test sample were found for both 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical generation and lipid peroxidation. As for the superoxide radical scavenging activity, the heartwood extract was more effective than the bark extract. Furthermore, the heartwood extract protected PhiX174 supercoiled DNA against strand scission induced by ultraviolet photolysis of H2O2, and it reduced the amounts of intracellular hydrogen peroxide, a reactive oxygen species, when it was co-incubated with human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells under oxidative stress.

MeSH terms

  • Acacia / chemistry*
  • Antioxidants / chemistry
  • Antioxidants / pharmacology*
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Free Radical Scavengers
  • Lipid Peroxidation / drug effects*
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology*
  • Reactive Oxygen Species

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Free Radical Scavengers
  • Plant Extracts
  • Reactive Oxygen Species