Abstract
Velvet antler is believed to have body strengthening, immunomodulatory and anti-aging effects. It is used in Chinese commercial functional foods and nutraceuticals. The antioxidant activity of the aqueous extract of velvet antler (AEVA) from Cervus elaphus Linnaeus was evaluated with DPPH-radical scavenging, FRAP, Fe2+-chelating and inhibition of linoleic acid autoxidation assays. AEVA showed antioxidant activity in all four assays. After removal of protein from AEVA, the antioxidant activity was significantly elevated. A semi-preparative HPLC equipped with a C18 column was used for further separation of the non-protein components (AEVA-S). Identification of the most active fraction (AEVA-SII) of AEVA-S was accomplished by LC/MS, HPLC and UV/Vis analyses. The HPLC chromatogram showed five main peaks identified as nucleotides (3′-CMP, 2′-CMP, 3′-UMP and 2′-UMP) and hypoxanthine. Nucleotides in AEVA-SII exhibited no free-radical scavenging and ferric-reducing activity. Only UMP exhibited Fe2+-chelating activity which accounted for 34.75% of the total Fe2+-chelating activity of AEVA-SII. The results indicated that other unidentified components with antioxidant activity were present in AEVA-SII.
Recommended Citation
Zhao, L.; Pei, R.-S.; Ji, B.-P.; Luo, Y.-C.; Zhang, D.; Xu, Z.-Y.; and Jia, X.-N.
(2010)
"Antioxidant activity of aqueous extract fractions of velvet antler (Census elaphus Linnaeus),"
Journal of Food and Drug Analysis: Vol. 18
:
Iss.
5
, Article 3.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.38212/2224-6614.2274
