Characterization of Antioxidant Activities of Wild Hawthorn Fruits Growing in Lebanon

摘要

Hawthorn fruits and flowers have been traditionally and clinically used in the treatment of cardiovascular irregularities with minimal side effects. Hawthorne extracts are thought to exert there beneficial effects largely due to their antioxidant capabilities. The pharmacological effects of Crataegus have mainly been attributed to their polyphenolic contents. To the best of our knowledge there has been no characterization of such capabilities in the hawthorn plants in the Middle East region. For this purpose, ripe fruits (red) from wild trees growing in a mountainous region of Lebanon were chosen for this study. The fruits were extracted with ethanol (80%) and following complete evaporation of alcohol, the extract was suspended in water and frozen until used. The extract (H-1) exhibited a total antioxidant capacity of EC = 0.16mg mLG . It also possessed free 50 1 radical scavenging activities against the super-oxide anion and diphenylpicrlyhydrazyl (DPPH) generation of EC = 0.1 mg mLG and 1.0 mg mLG , respectively. H-1 was able to demonstrate effective protection against 50 1 1 Fe -induced lipid per-oxidation in human blood plasma mounting to 37.6?8.1 % in the concentration range of +3 0.14-1.0 mg mLG. Hence, the hawthorn source we used is generally similar in its qualities to others growing in 1 other parts of the world.