Institution of Food Safety, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Pharm Biol. 2011 Jun;49(6):569-76. doi: 10.3109/13880209.2010.529614. Epub 2011 Mar 9.
Bombax malabaricum DC. (Bombacaceae) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine used for the treatment of inflammatory conditions, diarrhea, fever, chronic inflammation, catarrhal affection, and as a diuretic. However, little information is available about its antioxidative activity.
Water, 50% ethanol, and 80% acetone extracts from flowers of B. malabaricum were investigated for their in vitro antioxidant activity in this article for the first time. Then the relationships between antioxidant activity measured by different methods and total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were established.
The antioxidant activities of extracts from B. malabaricum flower were investigated including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), reducing power, and inhibition on phosphatidylcholine liposome peroxidation.
Results showed that all the extracts possessed remarkable antioxidant capacity compared with ascorbic or gallic acids. Total antioxidant activities evaluated by ORAC assay of different extracts ranged from 700.03 to 1482.46 μmol Trolox equivalents/g. The highest TPC of 130.38 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g was observed in 80% acetone extract, whereas the lowest TPC of 57.09 mg GAE/g was obtained in the water extract. Furthermore, TFC exhibited significant (P < 0.05) positive correlations with DPPH radical-scavenging activity, ORAC, and reducing power.
These findings demonstrate that the flowers of B. malabaricum have excellent antioxidant activities and thus might be a potential source of natural antioxidants.
木棉（Bombax malabaricum DC.）是一种传统的中草药，用于治疗炎症、腹泻、发热、慢性炎症、卡他症状和利尿。然而，关于其抗氧化活性的信息很少。
本文首次研究了木棉花朵的水、50%乙醇和 80%丙酮提取物的体外抗氧化活性，并建立了不同方法测定的抗氧化活性与总酚含量（TPC）和总黄酮含量（TFC）之间的关系。
本文研究了木棉花朵提取物的抗氧化活性，包括 1,1-二苯基-2-苦基肼（DPPH）自由基清除活性、氧自由基吸收能力（ORAC）、还原能力和对磷脂酰胆碱脂质体过氧化的抑制作用。
结果表明，所有提取物均具有显著的抗氧化能力，与抗坏血酸或没食子酸相比。不同提取物的 ORAC 测定总抗氧化活性范围为 700.03-1482.46 μmol Trolox 当量/g。80%丙酮提取物的 TPC 最高，为 130.38mg 没食子酸当量（GAE）/g，而水提取物的 TPC 最低，为 57.09mg GAE/g。此外，TFC 与 DPPH 自由基清除活性、ORAC 和还原能力呈显著（P<0.05）正相关。
这些发现表明，木棉花朵具有优异的抗氧化活性，因此可能是天然抗氧化剂的潜在来源。
