Abstract
Heartwood, sapwood, and inner and outer bark of Port Orford cedar were extracted with methanol, and the extracts evaluated for antioxidant activity. The total phenol content (TPC) of the extracts was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method and expressed as gallic acid equivalent (GAE). Butylated hydroxytoluene was used as a positive control in the free-radical-scavenging activity tests and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid dihydrate disodium salt served as a positive control in the metal-chelating activity assay. All wood extracts showed significant freeradical-scavenging activity. In the radical-scavenging assay of 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (the ABTS assay), the inner bark extracts exhibited the strongest free-radical-scavenging activity. The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC
50) in the radical-scavenging assay against 1,l-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl hydrate radical (DPPH) of the heartwood, sapwood, and inner and outer bark extracts were 64.77, 29.03, 10.31, 19.87,μgml
-1, respectively. In the metal-chelating activity system, the sapwood extract demonstrated significant activity. The greatest TPC, 537.5 mg GAE/g dry extract, was detected in the inner bark. The lowest TPC of 136.9mg GAE/g dry extract was observed in the heartwood dry extract. The results indicate that the antioxidant activities of the extracts are in accordance with the amounts of phenolics present; the inner and outer barks of Port Orford cedar are rich in phenolics and may provide good sources of antioxidants.
Keywords
Free radical scavenger,
methanol extracts,
Port Orford cedar,
total phenol content
Citation
Gao, Heng; Shupe, Todd F.; Eberhardt, Thomas L.; Hse, Chung Y. 2007. Antioxidant activity of extracts from the wood and bark of Port OrFord cedar. J. Wood. Sci., Vol. 53: 147-152