CHRACTERIZATION AND 1,1-DIPHENYL-2-PICRYLHYDRAZYL RADICAL SCAVENGING ACTIVITY OF METHANOL AND SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE EXTRACTS FROM LEAVES OFADINANDRA NITIDA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Leaves of Adinandra nitida are consumed in southern China as health tea (Shiyacha) and as herbal medicine. In this study, the methanol and supercritical fluid extracts from leaves of A. nitida were obtained by traditional solvent extraction and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, respectively. Both the extracts showed high 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. By using ultraviolet-visible spectrometry (UV), infrared spectrometry (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography-ESI/MS, the main bioactive constituents in the methanol extract (ME) were identified as camellianin A, camellianin B, apigenin. By analysis of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, a total of 16 compounds accounting for 98.79% of the supercritical fluid extract (SFE) were identified as γ-sitosterol, vitamin E, γ-tocopherol and so on. These compounds found in ME and SFE could contribute to the DPPH radical scavenging performance of the extracts in this study. PRACTICAL APPLICATION Adinandra nitida is a kind of particular wild plant in South China. Few reports have been published about it in the world. In this study, the methanol and supercritical fluid extracts from leaves of A. nitida were respectively obtained by two kinds of industrially significant methods, traditional solvent extraction and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. By using ultraviolet-visible spectrometry (UV), infrared spectrometry (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography-ESI/MS, gas chromatography-MS, the main bioactive constituents in the two extracts were identified as flavonoids and plant sterols. Both the extracts showed high 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and this activity of the flavonoid-rich methanol extract was 10 times more than that of butylated hydroxytoluene. These results showed that leaves of A. nitida is a new kind of natural antioxidant-rich, flavonoid-rich plant source with great commercial interest in the food and phytopharmaceutical market.