Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

In vivo antioxidant properties of lotus root and cucumber: A pilot comparative study in aged subjects

The journal of nutrition, health & aging volume 19, pages 765–770 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives

To compare the effects of lotus root and cucumber on antioxidant function in aged subjects.

Design

Pilot comparative study.

Setting

Research setting with vegetable intervention.

Participants

Healthy aged subjects over the age of sixty.

Intervention

30-day supplementation of lotus root or cucumber powder.

Measurements

Plasma value of ferric reducing antioxidant power assay, activity of antioxidant enzymes, contents of some antioxidants, oxidation products, hemolysis, blood mononuclear cell DNA damage and urinary excretion of 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine were measured before and after the intervention.

Results

Plasma glutathione peroxidase activity, contents of vitamin C, total phenolics were significantly increased, while plasma uric acid content significantly decreased in both groups at the end of the intervention. Meanwhile, hemolysis was significantly reduced in both groups and DNA injury rate of blood mononuclear cells in lotus root group and the ratio of comet tail length to total length in cucumber group were also declined significantly post-intervention. However, plasma value of ferric reducing antioxidant power assay, contents of reduced glutathione, vitamin E, malondialdehyde, oxidized low density lipoprotein, carbonyls and activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase were not changed significantly in both group after the intervention.

Conclusion

These results suggest that lotus root and cucumber are not remarkably different in improving antioxidant function in aged subjects, though they are significantly different in antioxidant capacity in vitro. The benefits observed in this study may come from the additive or synergistic combinations of antioxidants contained in vegetables.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. Cao G, Sofic E, Prior RL. Antioxidant capacity of tea and common vegetables. J Agric Food Chem1996;44:3426–3431

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Halvorsen BL, Holte K, Myhrstad MCW, et al. A systematic screening of total antioxidants in dietary plants. J Nutr 2002;132:461–471

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Song W, Derito CM, Liu MK, He X, Dong M, Liu R. Cellular antioxidant activity of common vegetables. J Agric Food Chem 2010;58:6621–6629

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Chao PY, Lin SY, Lin KH, Liu YF, Hsu JI, Yang CM, Lai JY. Antioxidant activity in extracts of 27 indigenous Taiwanese vegetables. Nutrients 2014; 6:2115–2130

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Guo CJ, Wei JY, Yang JJ, Li YF, Xu J, Jiang YG. The antioxidant capacity of 66 vegetables and fruits: a comparative study. Acta Nutr Sin 2003;25:203–207

    Google Scholar 

  6. Isabelle M, Lee BL, Lim MT, Koh W, Huang D, Ong CN. Antioxidant activity and profiles of common vegetables in Singapore. J Food Chem 2010;120:993–1003

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Du H, Zhao X, You JS, Park J, Kim S, Chang K. Antioxidant and hepatic protective effects of lotus root hot water extract with taurine supplementation in rats fed a high fat diet. J Biomed Sci 2010;17:s39–s44

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Guo CJ, Cao GH, Sofic E, Prior RL. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with coulorimetric array detection of electroactive components in fruits and vegetables: relationship to oxygen radical absorbance capacity. J Agric Food Chem 1997; 45:1787–1796

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Harman D. Aging: overview. J Ann N Y Acad Sci 2001; 928:1–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Matin GM. The biology of aging: 1985–2010 and beyond. FASEB J 2011; 25: 3756–3762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Sohal RS, Orr WC. The redox stress hypothesis of aging. Free Radic Biol Med 2012; 52: 539–555

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Hennekens CH, Buring JE, Manson JE, Stampfer M, Rosner B, Cook NR, Belanger C, LaMotte F, Gaziano JM, Ridler PM, Willett W, Peto R. Lack of effect of long-term supplementation with beta carotene on the incidence of malignant neoplasms and cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med 1996;334:1145–1149

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Prieme H, Loft S, Nyyssonen K, Salonen JT, Poulsen HE. No effect of supplementation with vitamin E, ascorbic acid, or coenzyme Q10 on oxidative damage estimated by 8-ox-7,8-dihydro-2’-deoxyquanosine excretion in smokers. Am J Clin Nutr 1997;65:503–507

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Bjelakovic G1, Nikolova D, Gluud LL, Simonetti RG, Gluud C. Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012;3:CD007176

    Google Scholar 

  15. Sadowska-Bartosz I, Bartosz G. Effect of Antioxidants Supplementation on Aging and Longevity. Biomed Res Inter 2014;Article ID 404680, 17 pages.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Dauchet L, Amouyel P, Hercberg S, Dallongeville J. Fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of cohort studies. J Nutr 2006;136:2588–2593

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Hjartaker A, Knudsen MD, Tretli S, Weiderpass E. Consumption of berries, fruits and vegetables and mortality among 10,000 Norwegian men followed for four decades. Eur J Nutr 2014; Aug 3. [Epub ahead of print]

  18. Ji LL, Gao WN, Wei JY, Wu JQ, Yang JJ, Meng B, Guo CJ. No correlation is found for vegetables between antioxidant capacity and potential benefits in improving antioxidant function in aged rats. J Clin Biochem Nutr 2014;54:198–203

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Benzie IFF, Strain JJ. The ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) as a measure of «antioxidant power»: the FRAP assay. J Anal Biochem1996;239:70–76

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Brewster MA, Turley CP. Vitamin C. In: Pesce AJ, Kaplan LA (eds) Methods in Clinical Chemistry. The C.V. Mosby Company, St Louis, 1987; pp574–581.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hansen LG, Warwich WJ. An improved assay method for serum vitamin A and E using fluorometry. Am J Clin Pathol 1978;70:922–923

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Singleton VL, Orthofer R, Lamuela-Raventos RM. Analysis of total phenols and other oxidation substrates and antioxidants by means of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. J Methods Enzymol 1999;299:152–178

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Smith CV, Anderson RE. Methods for determination of lipid peroxidation in biological samples. Free Radic Biol Med 1987;3:341–344

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Levine RL, Garland D, Oliver CN, Amici A, Climent I, Lenz AG, Ahn BW, Shaltiel S, Stadtman ER. Determination of carbonyl content in oxidatively modified proteins. Methods Enzymol 1990;186:464–478

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Grinberg LN, Newmark H, Kitrossky N, Rahamim E, Chevion M, Rachmilewitz EA. Protective effects of tea polyphenols aganist oxidative damage to red blood cells. J Biochem Pharmacol 1997;54:973–978

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Singh NP, McCoy MT, Tice RR, Schneider EL. A simple technique for quantitation of low levels of DNA damage in individual cells. Exp Cell Res 1988;175: 184–189

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Lee JJ, Park SY, Lee MY. Effect of lotus root (nelumbo nucifera G.) on lipid metabolism in rats with diet-induced hypercholesterolemia. Korean J Food Preserv 2006;13:634–642

    Google Scholar 

  28. Mukherjee PK, Pal SK, Saha K, Saha B. Hypoglycaemic activity of Nelumbo nucifera gaertn. (Fam. Nymphaeaceae) rhizome (methanolic extract) in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Phytother Res 2006;9:522–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kumar D, Kumas S, Singh J, Narender Rashmi Vashistha BD, Singh N. Free radical scavenging and analgesic activities of cucumis sativus L. fruit extract. J Young Pharmacists 2010; 2: 365–368

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Jacobo-Velázquez DA, Cisneros-Zevallos L. Correlations of antioxidant activity against phenolic content revisited: a new approach in data analysis for food and medicinal plants. J Food Sci 2009;74: R107–R113

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Landete JM. Updated knowledge about polyphenols: functions, bioavailability, metabolism, and health. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2012;52:936–948

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Ji LL, Wu JQ, Gao WN, Wei JY, Yang JJ, Guo CJ. Antioxidant capacity of different fractions of vegetables and correlation with the contents of ascorbic acid, total phenolics and flavonoids. J Food Sci 2011;76:1257–1261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Justino GC, Santos MR, Canario S, Borges C, Florencio MH, Mira L. Plasma quercetin metabolites: structure-antioxidant activity relationships. Arch Biochem Biophys 2004;432:109–121

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Lotito SB, Zhang WJ, Yang CS, Crozier A, Frei B. Metabolic conversion of dietary flavonoids alters their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Free Radic Biol Med 2011; 51: 454–463

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Jones DP, Coates RJ, Flagg EW, Eley JW, Block G, Greenberg RS, Gunter EW, Jackson B. Glutathione in foods listed in the National Cancer Institute’s Health Habits and History Food Frequency Questionnaire. Nutr Cancer 1992;17: 57–75

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Khoo HE, Prasad KN, Kong KW, Jiang Y, Ismail A. Carotenoids and their isomers: color pigments in fruits and vegetables. Molecules 2011;16:1710–1738

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Rebrin I, Zicker S, Wedekind KJ, Paetau-Robinson I, Packer L, Sohal RS. Effect of antioxidant-enriched diets on glutathione redox status in tissue homogenates and mitochondria of the senescence-accelerated mouse. Free Radic Biol Med 2005;39: 549–557

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Yeh CT, Yen GC. Induction of hepatic antioxidant enzymes by phenolic acids in rats is accompanied by increased levels of multidrug ressistance-associated protein 3 mRNA expression. J Nutr 2006;136:11–15

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine, Tianjin, 300050, P. R. China

    L. Ji, W. Gao, J. Wei, L. Pu, J. Yang & Changjiang Guo

Authors
  1. L. Ji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. W. Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Wei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. L. Pu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Changjiang Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Changjiang Guo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ji, L., Gao, W., Wei, J. et al. In vivo antioxidant properties of lotus root and cucumber: A pilot comparative study in aged subjects. J Nutr Health Aging 19, 765–770 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-015-0524-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-015-0524-x

Key words

search

Navigation