Evaluation of the Antioxidant Capacity and Phenolic Content of Agriophyllum pungens Seed Extracts from Mongolia

Antioxidants are an important group of medicinal preventive compounds as well as being food additives inhibiting detrimental changes of easily oxidizable nutrients. The present investigation has been carried out to evaluate the antioxidant properties of different solvent extracts of Agriophyllum pungens seeds by various in vitro systems. The anti-oxidative activities of these samples were determined using four methods: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity, ferric-reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP), and hydroxyl (OH) radical scavenging activities. Additionally, total flavonoids and phenolic contents (TPC) were also determined. Yield of extracts varied widely among solvents and was the highest for water extract (5.642% based on dry weight basis), while ethyl acetate extract exhibited the highest total phenolic content (0.149 mg/mL), total flavonoid content (0.111 mg/mL), and antioxidant activities (P<0.05). The ABTS radical scavenging activity of A. pungens seeds occurred in the following order: ascorbic acid (92.9157%)>BHA (90.1503%)>α-tocopherol (87.7527%)>APEA (83.9887%) >APWR (75.5633%); the antioxidant activity of the extracts might be attributed to the presence of these phenolics. This suggests that A. pungens seed extract is a potential source of natural antioxidants, which could be added to dietary supplements to help prevent oxidative stress.