Abstract
Sugarcane tops were extracted with 50% ethanol and fractionated by petroleum ether, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and n-butyl alcohol successively. Eight phenolic compounds in EtOAc extracts were purified through silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatographies, and then identified by nuclear magnetic resonance and electrospray ionization mass spectra. The results showed that eight phenolic compounds from EtOAc extracts were identified as caffeic acid, cis-p-hydroxycinnamic acid, quercetin, apigenin, albanin A, australone A, moracin M, and 5'-geranyl-5,7,2',4'-tetrahydroxyflavone. The antioxidant and nitrite-scavenging capacities of different solvent extracts correlated positively with their total phenolic (TP) contents. Amongst various extracts, EtOAc extracts possessed the highest TP content and presented the strongest oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), 1,1'-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging capacity, 2,2'-azobis-3-ethylbenthiaazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical-scavenging capacity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and nitrite-scavenging capacity. Thus, sugarcane tops could be promoted as a source of natural antioxidant.
Highlights
Free radicals and other reactive oxygen species are produced by oxidative metabolism continuously in vivo, resulting in cell ageing, cell death, and tissue damage [1]
We reported the isolation and structural identification of eight phenolic compounds (Figure 1) in sugarcane tops
The highest total phenolic (TP) content of EtOAc extract indicated that phenolic components in sugarcane tops mainly dissolved in EtOAc, which was the optimum solvent for separating and enriching phenolic compounds from sugarcane top extracts
Summary
Free radicals and other reactive oxygen species are produced by oxidative metabolism continuously in vivo, resulting in cell ageing, cell death, and tissue damage [1]. Phenolic compounds exist naturally in vegetables, fruits and grains These compounds possess the ability to reduce oxidative damage because they can act as direct antioxidant by donating a hydrogen atom to free radicals and by chelating metal ions, such as iron or copper, as well as they can act as indirect antioxidants by upregulating antioxidant enzymes [6,7]. Health benefits of sugarcane tops which can be utilized as a new source of natural antioxidant in the food industry. These data are important to illuminate that sugarcane top phenolics possess an antioxidant protection role, which can postpone ageing and senescing
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