Crataegus macracantha Lodd, family Rosaceae, is a very rare species in Europe, and unlike Crataegus monogyna is less investigated for pharmacologic activity.
Aim: To analyze the ability of the lyophilisate of extract obtained from leaves of Crataegus macracantha Lodd (single plant at the Iaşi Botanical Garden) to capture free radicals in vitro.
Material and methods: The lyophilisate obtained in Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iaşi. The decreased absorbance of chromophore chlorpromazine radical cation in the presence of the lyophilized solutions was studied spectrophotometrically. The indicator radical cation, obtained by oxidation of chlorpromazine by potassium persulfate, has the maximum absorbance at 525 nm. Ascorbic acid was used as a standard antioxidant.
Results: The absorbance of radical solution was determined after the addition of a certain amount of lyophilisate at different time intervals. The antioxidant activity was calculated using the calibration curve obtained by plotting the variation in radical solution absorbance depending on ascorbic acid concentration. For each ascorbic acid concentration the area under the curve was calculated from plotting the percentage inhibition of the absorbance at two pre-established time intervals.
Conclusions: The results confirm the antioxidant activity of the leaves of Crataegus Macracantha Lodd and by optimizing the proposed analytical methods the antiradical activity can be quickly evaluated with minimal reagent consumption.