Volume 6, Issue 2, April 2016, Pages 153–159
Open Access
Original article
- Open Access funded by Center for Food and Biomolecules, National Taiwan University
- Under a Creative Commons license
Abstract
Reactive
oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) are involved in
deleterious/beneficial biological processes. The present study sought to
investigate the capacity of single and combinatorial herbal
formulations of Acanthus montanus, Emilia coccinea, Hibiscus rosasinensis, and Asystasia gangetica
to act as superoxide radicals (SOR), hydrogen peroxide (HP), nitric
oxide radical (NOR), hydroxyl radical (HR), and
2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical antagonists using in vitro
models. The herbal extracts were single herbal formulations (SHfs),
double herbal formulations (DHfs), triple herbal formulations (THfs),
and a quadruple herbal formulation (QHf). The phytochemical composition
and radical scavenging capacity index (SCI) of the herbal formulations
were measured using standard methods. The flavonoids were the most
abundant phytochemicals present in the herbal extracts. The SCI50
defined the concentration (μg/mL) of herbal formulation required to
scavenge 50% of the investigated radicals. The SHfs, DHfs, THfs, and QHf
SCI50 against the radicals followed the order
HR > SOR > DPPH radical > HP > NOR. Although the various
herbal formulations exhibited ambivalent antioxidant activities in terms
of their radical scavenging capabilities, a broad survey of the results
of the present study showed that combinatorial herbal formulations
(DHfs, THfs, and QHf) appeared to exhibit lower radical scavenging
capacities than those of the SHfs in vitro.
Graphical abstract
Radical scavenging capacity indices (SCI50) of single and combinatorial herbal formulations.
Keywords
- antioxidant;
- herbal formulation;
- in vitro;
- phytochemicals;
- radicals
