Abstract
Portulaca oleracea is a well-known species for traditional medicine and food homology in Taiwan. In traditional medicine, P. oleracea is also used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, liver inflammation, fever, severe inflammation, and headaches. We investigated antioxidant, anti-tyrosinase, and anti-α-glucosidase activities of various solvent extracts and major bioactive components from P. oleracea. Ethanol and acetone extracts showed potent DPPH, ABTS, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities. Chloroform and n-hexane extracts displayed significant superoxide radical scavenging activity. Furthermore, ethyl acetate and acetone extracts of P. oleracea showed potent anti-tyrosinase and anti-α-glucosidase activities. Examined and compared to the various solvent extracts for their chemical compositions using HPLC analysis, we isolated seven major compounds and analyzed their antioxidant, anti-tyrosinase, and anti-α-glucosidase activities. Seven active compounds of P. oleracea, especially quercetin, rosmarinic acid, and kaempferol, exhibited obvious antioxidant, anti-tyrosinase, and anti-α-glucosidase activities. The molecular docking model and the hydrophilic interactive mode of tyrosinase and α-glucosidase revealed that active compounds might have a higher antagonistic effect than commonly inhibitors. Our result shows that the active solvent extracts and their components of P. oleracea have the potential as natural antioxidants, tyrosinase and α-glucosidase inhibitors. Our results suggest that the active solvent extracts of P. oleracea and their components have potential as natural antioxidants, tyrosinase and α-glucosidase inhibitors.
Highlights
Free radicals are substances produced after oxygen metabolism in the body, and are molecules or molecular fragments whose atoms contain unpaired electrons or contain other oxygen species, including molecular orbitals or simple reactive oxygen species, which are very active and can react strongly with any substance [1]
We investigated the total phenol contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC) and yields in different solvent extracts of P. oleracea
Various solvent extracts of P. oleracea were investigated with various antioxidant systems, anti-tyrosinase and anti-α-glucosidase activity assays
Summary
Free radicals are substances produced after oxygen metabolism in the body, and are molecules or molecular fragments whose atoms contain unpaired electrons or contain other oxygen species, including molecular orbitals or simple reactive oxygen species, which are very active and can react strongly with any substance [1]. An imbalance between the production and quenching of free radicals from oxygen species leads to oxidative stress. These reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in many chronic diseases including mitochondrial diseases [2]. Numerous studies have shown an inverse relationship between the dietary intake of antioxidant-rich foods and incidence of human disease [3]. Synthetic antioxidants, such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), have been widely used as antioxidants in the food industry and may cause liver damage and carcinogenesis [4,5]. This reason has sparked public interest in natural antioxidants as an alternative
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