Hisao Higashio

Evaluation of antioxidative activity of vegetable extracts in linoleic acid emulsion and phospholipid bilayers

The antioxidative effects of vegetable extracts were evaluated using linoleic acid emulsion and liposomal phospholipid suspension systems. First, the antioxidative activities of water, ethanol and 2% metaphosphoric acid extracts of the vegetables were investigated by measuring the rate of oxygen consumption in the peroxidation of linoleic acid initiated by a radical generator, 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH), with a Clark electrode in the absence of metal chelators. Ethanol extracts of moroheiya and perilla exhibited the highest antioxidative activities. Without metal chelators, 12 ethanol extracts and one water extract acted as prooxidants, and this phenomenon could be attributed to the prooxidant action of ascorbic acid in the presence of free transition metal ions. Next, peroxyl radical-scavenging activities of vegetable extracts were examined by adding a metal chelator, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), to the linoleic acid emulsion system. The results were compared with their antioxidative activities in phospholipid bilayers by measuring the inhibition of lipid peroxidation in large unilamellar vesicles composed of egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (PC). A good correlation was observed between the antioxidative activities obtained from these two systems. The antioxidative activities in the liposomal phospholipid suspension system correlated with total contents of ascorbic acid and polyphenols in vegetable extracts. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry