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Antioxidant activity of three components of wheat leaves: ferulic acid, flavonoids and ascorbic acid

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Abstract

Recent studies have shown that wheat leaves are sources of natural antioxidant substances. In this study, the content of three antioxidants (ascorbic acid, total flavonoids and ferulic acid) and antioxidant activities of wheat leaf extracts were evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) assays. The interaction activities among different antioxidants were analyzed by factorial and path analyses. Wheat leaves were extracted with solvents of different polarities. The ABTS test showed that the ethanol extract had the highest antioxidant activity. There were highly significant linear correlations between antioxidant capacities of the investigated wheat leaves and their ascorbic acid, ferulic acid and flavonoid contents. Total flavonoids and ascorbic acid were major contributors to total antioxidant capacity in wheat leaves.

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Acknowledgments

This project is financially supported by the Key Scientific Fund (No. 09ZA081) administered by the Sichuan Education Committee of the People’s Republic of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Food Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, 46# Xinkang Street, Yaan Sichuan, 625014, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi-Qing Zhang, Jian-Jun Xiang & Li-Ming Zhou

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  1. Zhi-Qing Zhang
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  2. Jian-Jun Xiang
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  3. Li-Ming Zhou
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Correspondence to Zhi-Qing Zhang.

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Zhang, ZQ., Xiang, JJ. & Zhou, LM. Antioxidant activity of three components of wheat leaves: ferulic acid, flavonoids and ascorbic acid. J Food Sci Technol 52, 7297–7304 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-015-1805-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-015-1805-4

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