Antioxidant Activity of Some Mongolian Plants

Abstract

Antioxidant agents reactive oxygen species can be used for several cosmetic and medical applications. The goal of our study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of 69 plant samples of 68 species belonging to 55 genera and 25 families collected from Mongolia in August 2011. The antioxidant capacity of a methanolic extract of plants was evaluated by analyzing the scavenging capacities of free radicals of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and compared with the commercial standard, butylated hydraxyanisole (BHA). We compared our experimental data with the BHA and divided in 4 groups by the antioxidant activity of samples. There were 12 samples with very strong antioxidant activity (IC 50 were < 4.4 μg/ml), 39 samples with strong antioxidant activity (IC 50 were 4.4≤25.99 μg/ml), 10 samples with moderate antioxidant activity (IC 50 were 26≤50.99 μg/ml), and 8 samples with weak antioxidant activity (IC 50 were ≥ 51 μg/ml). All extracts of plant samples showed concentration dependent DPPH free radical scavenging activity indicating the presence of potent natural antioxidant compounds.

Keywords

• plant
• antioxidant activity
• free radical