Antioxidant activities of selected Chinese medicinal and edible plants

Abstract

The antioxidant activities and contents of total phenols of 33 plants were evaluated using the ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay and Folin–Ciocalteu method. Significant linear correlation between the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content was found. The results show that a number of Chinese medicinal and edible plants, especially Flos Caryophylli, are important raw materials of the antioxidant functional foods or ingredients.

Keywords::

• Antioxidant activity
• Chinese both medicinal and edible plants
• ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay
• phenolic content

Declarations of interest: The present study was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation for the new teachers of Jiujiang University and Jiangsu University of China (09JDG023) and China and Jiangsu University Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (20100481099, 1143001069).