Speisky Hernán, Rocco Claudia, Carrasco Catalina, Lissi Eduardo A, López-Alarcón Camilo
Micronutrients Unit, Nutrition and Food Technology Institute and Faculty Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Phytother Res. 2006 Jun;20(6):462-7. doi: 10.1002/ptr.1878.
Herbal tea consumption is deeply and widely rooted amongst South-American populations. In view of the involvement of oxygen- and nitrogen-reactive species in the ethiogenesis of several diseases, the antioxidant properties of some of the herbal teas most commonly consumed in the southern regions was assessed in vitro. Around one-third of the 13 examined herbs, displayed a substantially higher ability to scavenge ABTS(+.) radicals (TEAC assay), and to quench the pro-oxidant species, hypochlorite (HClO) and peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)). Amongst the tested herbs, teas prepared from Haplopappus baylahuen, Rosa moschata and Peumus boldus showed the highest TEAC and HClO-quenching activities. These herbs were around 5- to 7-fold more potent than the least active herbs. Based on the TEAC assay, 150 mL of tea prepared from H. baylahuen, R. moschata and P. boldus would be equivalent to around 200 mg of Trolox). Teas from H. baylahuen and P. boldus were also found to be particularly potent in quenching HClO. In the ONOO(-) assay, H. baylahuen and Buddleia globosa showed the highest activities. The results obtained suggest that the regular consumption of teas prepared from some of these herbs may be useful potentially to provide the organism with molecules capable of protecting the gastrointestinal tract against certain pathologically relevant oxidant species.
南美洲人群中饮用花草茶的习惯根深蒂固且广泛存在。鉴于氧和氮活性物质参与了多种疾病的病因形成，对南美洲南部地区最常饮用的一些花草茶的抗氧化特性进行了体外评估。在所检测的13种草药中，约三分之一表现出显著更高的清除ABTS(+)自由基的能力（TEAC测定法），以及淬灭促氧化物质次氯酸盐（HClO）和过氧亚硝酸盐（ONOO(-)）的能力。在受试草药中，由巴伊拉韦恩单冠菊、麝香蔷薇和博尔杜胡椒薄荷制成的茶表现出最高的TEAC和HClO淬灭活性。这些草药的活性比活性最低的草药高约5至7倍。基于TEAC测定法，150毫升由巴伊拉韦恩单冠菊、麝香蔷薇和博尔杜胡椒薄荷制成的茶相当于约200毫克的Trolox。还发现由巴伊拉韦恩单冠菊和博尔杜胡椒薄荷制成的茶在淬灭HClO方面特别有效。在ONOO(-)测定中，巴伊拉韦恩单冠菊和球花醉鱼草表现出最高的活性。所得结果表明，经常饮用由其中一些草药制成的茶可能潜在地有助于为机体提供能够保护胃肠道免受某些病理相关氧化物质侵害的分子。
