Antioxidant capacities of ethylacetate, butanol, and water fractions of peel, pulp, and seeds of Canarium odontophyllum Miq. (CO) were determined using various in vitro antioxidant models. Ethylacetate fraction of peel (EAFPE) exhibited the highest total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activities compared to pulp, seeds, and other solvent fractions. Antioxidant capacities were assayed by total antioxidant capability, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and hemoglobin oxidation assay. Total phenolic content of ethylacetate fractions was positively correlated with the antioxidant activity. This is the first report on the antioxidant activities from CO fruit fractions. Thus, EAFPE can be used potentially as a readily accessible source of natural antioxidants and as a possible pharmaceutical supplement.
Lipase-catalyzed transesterification of flaxseed oil with cinnamic acid (CA) or ferulic acid (FA) using an immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica (E.C. 3.1.1.3) was conducted to evaluate whether the lipophilized products provided enhanced antioxidant activity in the oil. Lipase-catalyzed transesterification of flaxseed oil with CA or FA produced a variety of lipophilized products (identified using ESI-MS-MS) such as monocinnamoyl/feruloyl-diacylglycerol, dicinnamoyl-monoacylglycerol and monocinnamoyl-monoacylglycerol. The free radical scavenging activity of the lipophilized products of lipase-catalyzed transesterification of flaxseed oil with CA or FA toward 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH.) were both examined in ethanol and ethyl acetate. The polarity of the solvents proved important in determining the radical scavenging activity of the substrates. Unesterified FA showed the highest free radical scavenging activity among all substrates tested while CA had negligible activity. The esterification of CA or FA with flaxseed oil resulted in significant increase and decrease in the radical scavenging activity compared with the native phenolic acid, respectively. Based on the ratio of a substrate to DPPH. concentration, lipophilized FA was a much more efficient free radical scavenger compared to lipophilized CA and was able to provide enhanced antioxidant activity in the flaxseed oil. Lipophilized cinnamic acid did not provide enhanced radical scavenging activity in the flaxseed oil as the presence of natural hydrophilic antioxidants in the oil had much greater radical scavenging activity.
A series of 46 curcumin related diarylpentanoid analogues were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase activities. Among these compounds 2, 13 and 33 exhibited potent NO inhibitory effect on IFN-gamma/LPS-activated RAW 264.7 cells as compared to L-NAME and curcumin. However, these series of diarylpentanoid analogues were not significantly inhibiting NO scavenging, total radical scavenging and tyrosinase enzyme activities. The results revealed that the biological activity of these diarylpentanoid analogues is most likely due to their action mainly upon inflammatory mediator, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). The present results showed that compounds 2, 13 and 33 might serve as a useful starting point for the design of improved anti-inflammatory agents.
The antioxidant properties of virgin coconut oil produced through chilling and fermentation were investigated and compared with refined, bleached and deodorized coconut oil. Virgin coconut oil showed better antioxidant capacity than refined, bleached and deodorized coconut oil. The virgin coconut oil produced through the fermentation method had the strongest scavenging effect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and the highest antioxidant activity based on the beta-carotene-linoleate bleaching method. However, virgin coconut oil obtained through the chilling method had the highest reducing power. The major phenolic acids detected were ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid. Very high correlations were found between the total phenolic content and scavenging activity (r=0.91), and between the total phenolic content and reducing power (r=0.96). There was also a high correlation between total phenolic acids and beta-carotene bleaching activity. The study indicated that the contribution of antioxidant capacity in virgin coconut oil could be due to phenolic compounds.