Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, and Antibacterial Activity of Wood Vinegar from Litchi chinensis

Jyh-Ferng Yang; Cheng-Hong Yang; Ming-Tsai Liang; Zi-Jie Gao; Yuh-Wern Wu; Li-Yeh Chuang

doi:10.3390/molecules21091150

Molecules (Aug 2016)

Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, and Antibacterial Activity of Wood Vinegar from Litchi chinensis

Jyh-Ferng Yang,
Cheng-Hong Yang,
Ming-Tsai Liang,
Zi-Jie Gao,
Yuh-Wern Wu,
Li-Yeh Chuang

Affiliations

Jyh-Ferng Yang: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 840, Taiwan
Cheng-Hong Yang: Department of Electronic Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Ming-Tsai Liang: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 840, Taiwan
Zi-Jie Gao: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 840, Taiwan
Yuh-Wern Wu: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 840, Taiwan
Li-Yeh Chuang: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 840, Taiwan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules21091150
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 21, no. 9
p. 1150

Abstract

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The antioxidant and antibacterial activities of wood vinegar from Litchi chinensis, and its components have been studied. The chemical compositions of wood vinegar were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 17 chemical compounds were identified, representing 83.96% of the compositions in the wood vinegar. Three major components, included 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (syringol, 29.54%), 2-methoxyphenol (guaiacol, 12.36%), and 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxytoluene (11.07%), were found in the wood vinegar. Antioxidant activities of the acids were investigated from the aspects of 1,1-Diphyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals scavenging capacity, superoxide anion radical scavenging capacity, and reducing power. The pyroligneous acid exhibited high antioxidant activity which was comparable to the reference standards (vitamin C and butylated hydroxyl toluene) at the same dose with IC50 values of 36.5 ppm calculated by the DPPH radical scavenging assay, 38.38 g Trolox equivalent/100 g DW by the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay, and 67.9 by the reducing power analysis. Antibacterial activity was evaluated using the disc diffusion and microdilution methods against a group of clinically antibiotic resistant isolates. The major components exhibited broad spectrum inhibition against all the bacterial strains with a range of disc inhibition zoon between 15–19 mm. The minimum inhibition concentration and minimum bactericide concentration against the test strains was ranging in 0.95–3.80 μL/100 μL and 1.90–3.80 μL/100 μL, respectively. Most of the antibiotic resistant strains were more susceptible to the wood vinegar than the non-antibiotic resistant strain except the strain of ornithine resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Based on the chemical profile, it was considered that the strongest antioxidant and antibacterial activity of Litchi chinensis wood vinegar was due to its highly phenolic compositions. This study revealed that the Litchi chinensis wood vinegar is valuable to develop as alternative food antioxidant and antibiotics.

Published in Molecules

ISSN: 1420-3049 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry: Organic chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules

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