THE STUDY OF ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE HERB ASTRAGALUS GLYCYPHYLLUS L

Abstract

Topicality. In the process of originating and development of many diseases, an important role belongs to free radicals, which trigger chain reactions leading to damage of cells and tissues. The natural antioxidants can help to neutralize free radicals, among which phenolic compounds are the most active. The presence of these groups of biologically active substances in the herb Astragalus glycyphyllus L. suggests the presence of antioxidant activity in the phyto-complexes of the studied plant. The purpose of this research was to study the antioxidant activity of extracts from the herb Astragalus glycyphyllus L. Materials and methods. The object of the study was the air-dry herb Astragalus glycyphyllus L. harvested in the period of mass flowering. To obtain the most reliable results of the study, the investugation of the antioxidant activity of extracts from the herb Astragalus glycyphyllus L. was carried out by two met hods: by the method based on the chemical reaction between potassium permanganate and regenerating biologically active substances contained in extracts from the studied plant and by spectrophotometry of free radicals based on the reaction interactions of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl with antioxidants contained in plant raw materials. To establish the dependence between the antioxidant activity and the presence of phenolic compounds in the plant, the content of flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic acids in Astragalus glycyphyllus L. was determined. Results. It was found that all the studied extracts from the herb Astragalus glycyphyllus L. have antioxidant activity, but their values are different depending on the used extractant. In this case, a consistent pattern is observed between the content in the extraction of phenolic compounds (hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids) and the magnitude of antioxidant activity. Conclusions. As a result of the conducted research, the total antioxidant activity of extracts from the herb Astragalus glycyphyllus L. was established. Its value was found to be related to the content of phenolic compounds in the plant by a positive correlation. The obtained data indicate the promising use of the herb Astragalus glycyphyllus L. as a source of natural antioxidants. · Keywords: Astragalus glycyphyllus L.; antioxidant activity; flavonoids; hydroxycinnamic acids; free radicals.