Antioxidant and Radical Scavenging Activity of Aerial Parts and Roots of Turkish Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza Glabra L.)

Abstract

We investigated antioxidant and radical scavenging activity of lyophilized aqueous extract and ethanol extract of roots and barks of Turkish liquorices (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) by employing various in vitro antioxidant assays such as DPPH^• scavenging activity, ABTS^•+ scavenging activity, DMPD^•+ scavenging activity, O₂ ^•− scavenging activity, total antioxidant activity, Fe³⁺-Fe²⁺ and Cu²⁺-Cu⁺ reducing abilities H₂O₂ scavenging and ferrous ions (Fe²⁺) chelating activities. Aqueous extract of aerial parts (AE-AP), ethanol extract of aerial parts (EE-AP), aqueous extract of root parts (AE-RP) and ethanol extract of root parts (EE-RP) of Turkish liquorices inhibited 87.9, 83.6, 88.6 and 80.1% lipid peroxidation of linoleic acid emulsion at 30 μg/mL concentration, respectively. On the other hand, α-tocopherol and trolox indicated inhibition of 68.1 and 81.3%, respectively.

Keywords:

• Licorice
• Glycyrrhiza glabra
• Antioxidant activity
• Radical scavenging
• Metal chelating
• Reducing power

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This study was supported by Research Fund of Atatürk University. The author is grateful to the Research Fund of Atatürk University for financial support (Project no: 2008/75).