Effect of hydrothermal treatment on the antioxidant activity of Sambaekcho (Saururus chinensis) leaves

Abstract

Sambaekcho (Chinese lizard’s tail; Saururus chinensis) is one of widely used plants in oriental traditional medicine. Hydrothermal treatment of sambaekcho leaves was carried out at 3 different temperatures (100, 110, and 120°C) for 3 different times (15, 30, and 60 min), and antioxidant activities of the extracts were evaluated by determining total phenol content (TPC) and DPPH radical scavenging activity. The highest TPC and DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extracts were observed at 120°C for 30 min with the values of 61.25 mg gallic acid equivalents/g sambaekcho powder and 59.41%, respectively. The highest amount of quercetin, a well-known polyphenolic compound of sambaekcho, in the extracts was detected at 110oC for 60 min with the value of 3.13 μg/mL. These results indicated that appropriate temperature and time might be important for extraction with high antioxidant activity and physiologically important compounds from sambaekcho leaves.