1. Introduction
Recently there has been an increasing interest in free radicals in biological systems and their implied role as causative agents in a variety of pathological physiologies. Free radicals can be described as any species, which is capable of independent existence and contained one or more unpaired electrons, which makes them highly reactive. They promote beneficial oxidation to generate energy and kill microbial invaders. But in excess they cause harmful oxidation that can damage cell membrane and even cell death. Antioxidant nutrients have the ability to scavenge free radicals in the system and neutralize them before they do any damage to body cells. Most plants have protective biochemical functions of naturally occurring antioxidants in the cells. Many secondary compounds and enzymes of higher plants have been demonstrated with
Plants play a significant role in the development of new drugs and in many developing countries attention has been paid to explore natural substances as substitutes for synthetic compounds. The commonly used anti-oxidants, butylated hydroxyanisol and butylated hydroxytolune are synthetic chemicals and the possible toxicity of these anti-oxidants has resulted in their reduced usage [1]. Due to health concerns, natural anti-oxidants have been extensively employed in recent years [2]. Plants and other natural products contain hundreds of compounds those act as natural antioxidant. Therefore, several methods have been developed to quantify these compounds individually. The techniques are different in terms of mechanism of reaction, effectiveness and sensitivity [3,4,5]. Methods that are widely used to measure the antioxidant activity level in herbal sample, fruits and vegetables, and their products are thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) [6], oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) [7,8,9], β-carotene bleaching test (BCBT) [10], ABTS radical-cation [11,12], DPPH titration [13], Folin Ciocalteu [14], as well as FTC and FRAP. Therefore, an attempt has been made to review different
2. Free radicals, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species
A free radical may be defined as a molecule or molecular fragment containing one or more unpaired electrons in its outermost atomic or molecular orbital and is capable of independent existence. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a collective term for oxygen derived species namely oxygen radicals and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are certain non-radical reactive derivatives that are oxidizing agents and/ or are easily converted into radicals. The reactivity of radicals is generally stronger than non-radical species though radicals are less [15], ROS and RNS includes radicals such as superoxide (O2•-), hydroxyl (OH-), peroxyl (RO2•), hydroperoxyl (HO2•), alkoxyl (RO•), peroxyl (ROO•), nitric oxide (NO•), nitrogen dioxide (NO2•) and lipid peroxyl (LOO•) and non radicals like hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hypochlorous acid (HOCl), ozone (O3), singlet oxygen (1Δg), peroxynitrate (ONOO-), nitrous acid (HNO2), dinitrogen trioxide (N2O3), lipid peroxide (LOOH) [15], Biological systems get exposed to ROS either from endogenous or exogenous. They may be generated
3. Oxidative stress and human health
Active oxygen molecules such as superoxide (O2, OOH•), hydroxyl (OH•) and peroxyl (ROOH•) radicals play an important role in oxidative stress related to the pathogenesis of different diseases [18]. These free radicals and other related compounds are generated in (a) mitochondria (superoxide radical and hydrogen peroxide); (b) phagocytes (generators of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide during the ‘respiratory burst’ that takes place in activated phagocytic cells in order to kill bacteria after phagocytosis); (c) peroxisomes or microbodies (degrade fatty acids and other substances yielding hydrogen peroxide); and (d) cytochrome P450 enzymes, responsible for many oxidation reactions of endogenous substrates [19].
4. Antioxidants
Antioxidants are defined as compounds that inhibit or delay the oxidation of other molecules by inhibiting the initiation or propagation of oxidizing chain reactions. They are also called as oxidation inhibitor [20]. At any point of time, one antioxidant molecule can react with single free radical and is capable to neutralize free radical(s) by donating one of their own electrons, ending the carbon-stealing reaction. Antioxidants prevent cell and tissue damage as they act as scavenger. A variety of components act against free radicals to neutralize them from both endogenous and exogenous origin [21]. These include-endogenous enzymatic antioxidants; non enzymatic, metabolic and nutrient antioxidants; metal binding proteins like ferritin, lactoferrin, albumin, ceruloplasmin; phytoconstituents and phytonutrients [21]. Antioxidant can be classified as (i) primary antioxidant (terminate the free-radical chain reaction by donating hydrogen or electrons to free radicals and converting them to more stable products), (ii) secondary antioxidant (oxygen scavengers or chelating agent). Antioxidants play an important role as inhibitors of lipid peroxidation in living cell against oxidative damage [22]. It is well established that lipid peroxidation reaction is caused by the formation of free radicals in cell and tissues. Antioxidants also can be classified into three main types: first line defence antioxidants, second line defence antioxidants and third line defence antioxidants.
4.1. Mechanism of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activity
Antioxidants help to prevent the occurrence of oxidative damage to biological macromolecules caused by reactive oxygen species [23]. All aerobic organisms possess an antioxidant defense system to protect against ROS, which are constantly generated
Human cells have a Mn containing SOD in the mitochondria where as Cu and Zn bearing SOD present in the cytosol [25]. Enzyme catalase located in the peroxisomes converts H2O2 into H2O and O2 [26]. Another group of Se containing enzymes called glutathione peroxidase uses H2O2 as an oxidant to convert reduced glutathione (GSH) to oxidized glutathione (GSSG) [26].
SOD, CAT, GTx, glutathione reductase and some minerals viz. Se, Mn, Cu and Zn are known as the first line defence antioxidants. As discussed earlier, SOD mainly act by quenching of superoxide (O2-), catalase by catalyzing the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to water and oxygen. Glutathione peroxidase is a selenium containing enzyme which catalyses the reduction of H2O2 and lipid hydroperoxide, generated during lipid peroxidation, to water using reduced glutathione as substrate. Selenium and vitamin E act as scavengers of peroxides from cytosol and cell membrane, respectively. Cu exerts its antioxidant activity through the cytosolic superoxide dismutase. Second line defence antioxidants are glutathione (GSH), vitamin C, uric acid, albumin, bilirubin, vitamin E (α-tocopherol), carotenoids and flavonoid. β-carotene is an excellent scavenger of singlet oxygen. Vitamin C interacts directly with radicals like O2-, HO (hydroxyl). GSH is a good scavenger of many free radicals like O2-, HO and various lipid hydroperoxides and may help to detoxify many inhaled oxidizing air pollutants like ozone, NO2 and free radicals in cigarette smoke in the respiratory tract. Vitamin E scavenges peroxyl radical intermediates in lipid peroxidation and is responsible for protecting poly unsaturated fatty acid present in cell membrane and low density lipoprotein (LDL) against lipid peroxidation. Flavonoids are phenolic compounds, present in several plants, inhibit lipid peroxidation and lipoxygenases. The most important chain breaking antioxidant is α-tocopherol, present in human membranes. Vitamin C and α-tocopherol both help to minimize the consequences of lipid peroxidation in membranes. Third line antioxidants are a complex group of enzymes for repair of damaged DNA, damaged protein, oxidized lipids and peroxides and also to stop chain propagation of peroxyl lipid radical. These enzymes repair the damage to biomolecules and reconstitute the damaged cell membrane, e.g. lipase, proteases, DNA repair enzymes, transferase, methionine sulphoxide reductase etc. Non-enzymatic antioxidants can also be divided into metabolic antioxidants and nutrient antioxidants. Metabolic antioxidants are the endogenous antioxidants, which produced by metabolism in the body like lipoid acid, glutathione, L-ariginine, coenzyme Q10, melatonin, uric acid, bilirubin and metal-chelating proteins. While nutrient antioxidants belonging to exogenous antioxidants, which cannot be produced in the body but provided through diet or supplements viz. trace metals (selenium, manganese, zinc), flavonoids, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids etc. Vitamin E and C are the non enzymatic antioxidants exist within normal cells as well as they can be supplied through diet. Primary antioxidants, for example phenolic compounds react with peroxyl radicals and unsaturated lipid molecules and convert them to more stable products. Whereas, secondary antioxidants or preventives are compounds that retard the rate of chain initiation by various mechanism. This antioxidant reduce the rate of auto-oxidation of lipids by such processes as binding metal ions, scavenging oxygen and decomposing hydroperoxides to non radical products [27]. Secondary may function as electron or hydrogen donors to primary antioxidant radicals, thereby regenerating the primary antioxidant. Chelating agents remove prooxidant metals and prevent metal catalyzed oxidations. The oxygen scavenger such as ascorbic acid is able to scavenge oxygen and prevent oxidation of foods, regenerate phenolic or fat soluble antioxidant, maintain sulphohydryl groups in -SH form and act synergistically with chelating agents [28]. Metal chelating is an example of secondary antioxidant mechanism by which many natural antioxidants can influence the oxidation process. Metal chelators can stabilize the oxide forms of metals that have reduced redox potential, thus preventing metals from promoting oxidation.
4.2. Assessments of antioxidant properties with special reference to plants
A number of methods are available for determination of antioxidant activity of plant extracts. These assays differ from each other in terms of reagents, substrates, experimental condition, reaction medium, and standard analytical evaluation methods. Evaluation of natural and synthetic antioxidants requires antioxidant assays. The exact comparison and selection of the best method are practically impossible due to the variability of experimental conditions and difference in the physical and chemical properties of oxidisable substrates. However, the assay can be described in two systems (i) Antioxidant assays in aqueous system (DPPH, ABTS, DNA protection etc.) and (ii) Antioxidant assays in lipid system (TBARS). Also based on their involvement of chemical reaction they, can be divided into two basic categories-(i) hydrogen atom transfer reaction (HAT) and (ii) single electron transfer (ET) reaction based system.
4.2.1. HAT based assay
These assay are based on hydrogen atom donating capacity. Commonly a synthetic free radical generator, an oxidisable molecular probe and an antioxidant are involved in such assays. The antioxidant competes with probe for free radicals as a result inhibiting the oxidation of probe. This type of assays includes oxygen radical absorbance capacity, total radical trapping parameter assay etc.
4.2.1.1. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay
The ORAC assay uses a peroxyl radical induced oxidation reaction to measure the antioxidants chain breaking ability. It uses beta-phycoerythrin (PE) as an oxidizable protein substrate and 2,2’-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) as a peroxyl radical generator or Cu2+. H2O2 as a hydroxyl radical generator. It is the only method that takes free radical action to completion and uses an area under curve (AUC) technique for quantitation. It combines both inhibition percentage and the length of inhibition time of the free radical action by antioxidants into a single quantity. The capacity of a compound to scavenge peroxyl radicals, generated by spontaneous decomposition of 2,2’-azo-bis, 2- amidinopropane dihydrochloride (AAPH), was estimated in terms of standard equivalents, using the ORAC assay [29]. The reaction mixture (4.0 ml) consists of 0.5 ml extract in phosphate buffer (75 mM, pH 7.2) and 3.0 ml of fluorescein solution (both are mixed and pre incubated for 10 min at 37°C). Then, 0.5 ml of AAPH solution is added and immediately the loss of fluorescence (FL) is observed at 1 min intervals for 35 min. The final results are calculated using the differences of areas under the FL decay curves between the blank and a sample and are expressed as micromole trolox equivalents per gram (µmol TE/g).
4.2.1.2. Total radical trapping parameter (TRAP) assay
TRAP is the most widely used
4.2.1.3. Dichlorofluorescin-diacetate (DCFH-DA) based assay
TRAP can also be measured spectrophotometrically by using dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) [30]. This assay uses AAPH to generate peroxyl radicals and DCFH-DA as the oxidisable substrate for the peroxyl radicals. The oxidation of DCFH-DA by peroxyl radicals converts DCFH-DA to dichlorofluorescein (DCF). DCF is highly fluorescent having an absorbance at 504 nm. Therefore, the produced DCF can be monitored either fluorometrically or spectrophotometrically.
4.2.2. ET based assays
These assay are based on the involvement of transfer of electron i.e. a probe (oxidant) is reduced by transfer of electron from an antioxidant (oxidised). The degree of color change of the probe by oxidation is proportional to the amount of antioxidants. These types of assay are questionable to work in
4.2.2.1. Total phenolic content
The amount of total phenolic content can be determined by Folin-Ciocalteau reagent (FCR) method [31-36]. Commonly 0.5 ml of extract and 0.1 ml of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (0.5 N) are mixed and incubated at room temperature for 15 min. Then 2.5 ml of saturated sodium carbonate is added and further incubated for 30 min at room temperature and absorbance measured at 760 nm. Gallic acid [34], tannic acid [37], quercetin [31], or guaicol [38], can be used as positive controls. The total phenolic content is expressed in terms of standard equivalent (mg/g of extracted compound).
4.2.2.2. Total flavonoid content
The antioxidative properties of flavonoids are due to several different mechanisms, such as scavenging of free radicals, chelation of metal ions, and inhibition of enzymes responsible for free radical generation [39]. Depending on their structure, flavonoids are able to scavenge practically all known ROS. The amount of total flavonoid content can be determined by aluminium chloride method [40]. The reaction mixture (3.0 ml) comprised of 1.0 ml of extract, 0.5 ml of aluminium chloride (1.2%) and 0.5 ml of potassium acetate (120 mM) is incubated at room temperature for 30 min and absorbance measured at 415 nm. Quercetin [41] or catechin [42] can be used as a positive control. The flavonoid content is expressed in terms of standard equivalent (mg/g of extracted compound).
4.2.2.3. Reducing power
Reducing power showcase the major antioxidant activity of different plant samples [43]. Compounds with reducing power indicate that they are electron donors and can reduce the oxidized intermediates of lipid peroxidation process. The reducing power can be determined by the method of Athukorala [44]. 1.0 ml extract is mixed with 2.5 ml of phosphate buffer (200 mM, pH 6.6) and 2.5 ml of potassium ferricyanide (30 mM) and incubated at 50°C for 20 min. Thereafter, 2.5 ml of trichloroacetic acid (600 mM) is added to the reaction mixture, centrifuged for 10 min at 3000 rpm. The upper layer of solution (2.5 ml) is mixed with 2.5 ml of distilled water and 0.5 ml of FeCl3 (6 mM) and absorbance is measured at 700 nm. Ascorbic acid, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), a-tocopherol, trolox can be used as positive control.
4.2.2.4. Ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)
The FRAP assay measures the reduction of a ferric salt to a blue colored ferrous complex by antioxidants under acidic condition (pH 3.6). The FRAP unit is defined as the reduction of one mole of Fe (III) to Fe (II). Ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) determines the total antioxidant power as the reducing capability. The increase in absorbance (∆A) at 593 nm is measured and compared with ∆A of a Fe (II) standard solution. The results were expressed as micromole Trolox equivalents (TE) per gram on dried basis. 0.2 ml of the extract is added to 3.8 ml of FRAP reagent (10 parts of 300 mM sodium acetate buffer at pH 3.6, 1 part of 10 mM TPTZ solution and 1 part of 20 mM FeCl3.6H2O solution) and the reaction mixture is incubated at 37°C for 30 min and the increase in absorbance at 593 nm is measured. FeSO4 solution is used for calibration. The antioxidant capacity based on the ability to reduce ferric ions of sample is calculated from the linear calibration curve and expressed as mmol FeSO4 equivalents per gram of sample. BHT, BHA, ascorbic acid, quercetin, catechin or trolox [45] can be used as a positive control. The FRAP assay is a simple, economic and reducible method which can be applied to both plasma and plant extracts. This method has the advantage of determining the antioxidant activity directly in whole plasma, it is not dependent on enzymatic and non-enzymatic methods to generate free radicals prior to the valuation of antiradical efficiency of the plasma.
4.2.2.5. DPPH method
This method uses a stable chrogen radical, DPPH in methanol, which give deep purple color. By addition of DPPH, the color of the solution fades and the reduction is monitored by the decrease in the absorbance at 515 nm. When a solution of DPPH is mixed with a substance that can donate a hydrogen atom, the reduced form of the radical is generated accompanied by loss of color. This delocalization is also responsible for the deep violet color, characterized by an absorption band at about 515 nm. The reaction mixture (3.0 ml) consists of 1.0 ml of DPPH in methanol (0.3 mM), 1.0 ml of the extract and 1.0 ml of methanol. It is incubated for 10 min in dark, and then the absorbance is measured at 520 nm. In this assay, the positive controls can be ascorbic acid, gallic acid [46] and BHT [47]. The percentage of inhibition can be calculated using the formula:
where
A0 is the absorbance of control and A1 is the absorbance of test.
This assay is simple and widely used. However, it has some disadvantages i.e. unlike reactive peroxyl radicals DPPH reacts slowly. The reaction kinetics between the DPPH and antioxidants are not linear as a result EC50 measurement is problematic for DPPH assay.
4.2.2.6. ABTS or TEAC assay
TEAC assay is a decolorisation assay applicable to both lipophillic and hydrophilic antioxidants. The TEAC assay is based on the inhibition by antioxidants of the absorbance of the radical cation of 2,2’-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline 6-sulfonate) (ABTS), which has a characteristic long-wavelength absorption spectrum showing maxima at 660, 734 and 820 nm. Generation of the ABTS radical cation forms the basis of one of the spectrophotometric methods that have been applied to the measurement of the total antioxidant activity. The experiments are carried out using a decolourisation assay, which involves the generation of the ABTS chromophore by the oxidation of ABTS with potassium persulphate. The ABTS free radical-scavenging activity of plants samples is determined by the method of Stratil et al. [48]. The radical cation ABTS + is generated by persulfate oxidation of ABTS. A mixture (1:1, v/v) of ABTS (7.0 mM) and potassium persulfate (4.95 mM) is allowed to stand overnight at room temperature in dark to form radical cation ABTS+. A working solution is diluted with phosphate buffer solution to absorbance values between 1.0 and 1.5 at 734 nm. An aliquot (0.1 ml) of each sample is mixed with the working solution (3.9 ml) and the decrease of absorbance is measured at 734 nm after 10 min at 37°C in the dark. Aqueous phosphate buffer solution (3.9 ml, without ABTS+ solution) is used as a control. The ABTS+ scavenging rate is calculated. The reaction is pH - independent. A decrease of the ABTS+ concentration is linearly dependent on the antioxidant concentration. Trolox, BHT, rutin [49], ascorbic acid [50] or gallic acid [51] can be used as a positive control. The only problem with ABTS does not resemble the radical found in the biological system. However, this assay is widely used because of its simplicity and automation.
4.2.2.7. Assay of superoxide radical (O
Superoxide anion generates powerful and dangerous hydroxyl radicals as well as singlet oxygen, both of which contribute to oxidative stress [52]. In the PMS/NADH-NBT system, the superoxide anion derived from dissolved oxygen from PMS/NADH coupling reaction reduces NBT. The decrease of absorbance at 560 nm with antioxidants indicates the consumption of superoxide anion in the reaction mixture. The superoxide anion scavenging activity is measured as described by Robak and Gryglewski [53]. The superoxide anion radicals are generated in 3.0 ml of Tris-HCl buffer (16 mM, pH 8.0), containing 0.5 ml of NBT (0.3 mM), 0.5 ml NADH (0.936 mM) solution and 1.0 ml extract. The reaction is started by adding 0.5 ml PMS solution (0.12 mM) to the mixture, incubated at 25°C for 5 min and then the absorbance is measured at 560 nm. Later, Dasgupta and De [55] modified this method using riboflavin-light-NBT system. Each 3 ml mixture contains 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.8), 13 mM methionine, 2 µM riboflavin, 100 µM EDTA, NBT (75µM) and 1 ml sample solution. Gallic acid [53], BHA, ascorbic acid, a-tocopherol, curcumin [56] can be used as a positive control.
4.2.2.8. Assay of hydroxyl radical (-OH) scavenging activity
Plant extracts have ability to inhibit non-specific hydroxyl radical (hydroxyl radical reacts with polyunsaturated fatty acid moieties of cell membrane phospholipids and causes damage to cell [57, 58]. The model used is ascorbic acid-iron-EDTA model of OH generating system, in which ascorbic acid, iron and EDTA work together with each other to generate hydroxyl radicals. The reaction mixture (1.0 ml) consist of 100 µl of 2-deoxy-D-ribose (28 mM in 20 mM KH2PO4-KOH buffer, pH 7.4), 500 µl of the extract, 200 µl EDTA (1.04 mM) and 200 µM FeCl3 (1:1 v/v), 100 µl of H2O2 (1.0 mM) and 100 µl ascorbic acid (1.0 mM) which is incubated at 37°C for 1 hour. 1.0 ml of thiobarbituric acid (1%) and 1.0 ml of trichloroacetic acid (2.8%) are added and incubated at 100°C for 20 min. After cooling, absorbance is measured at 532 nm, against a blank. Gallic acid, catechin [59], vitamin E [60] can be used as a positive control. Later, this method was modified by Dasgupta and De [55] based on benzoic acid hydroxylation using spectroflurometer. The reaction mixtures (2 ml) consist of 200 µl each of sodium benzoate (10mM), FeSO4.7H2O (10mM) and EDTA (10mM). The solution mixtures are volume makeup to 1.8 ml by adding phosphate buffer (pH 7.4, 0.1 M). Finally 0.2 ml of H2O2 (10mM) is added and incubated at 37 οC for 2 hours. The fluorescens are measured at 407 nm emission (Em) and excitation (Ex) at 305 nm.
4.2.2.9. Hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging assay
Hydrogen peroxide occurs naturally at low concentration levels in the air, water, human body, plants, microorganisms and food. Hydrogen peroxide enters the human body through inhalation of vapor or mist and through eye or skin contact. In the body, H2O2 is rapidly decomposed into oxygen and water and this may produce hydroxyl radicals (OHy) that can initiate lipid peroxidation and cause DNA damage. The ability of plant extracts to scavenge hydrogen peroxide is determined according to the method of Ruch et al. [61]. A solution of hydrogen peroxide (40 mM) is prepared in phosphate buffer (50 mM, pH 7.4). Extract concentration (20-50 g/ml) aqueous is added to hydrogen peroxide and absorbance at 230 nm after 10 min. incubation against a blank solution (phosphate buffer without hydrogen peroxide). The percentage of hydrogen peroxide scavenging is calculated as follows:
where
A0 is the absorbance of control and A1 is the absorbance of test. Ascorbic acid, rutin, BHA [62] can be used as a positive control.
4.2.2.10. Nitric oxide radical scavenging assay
Nitric oxide generated from sodium nitroprusside in aqueous solution at physiological pH interacts with oxygen to produce nitrite ions, which were measured using the Griess reaction reagent (1% sulphanilamide, 0.1% naphthyethylene diamine dihydrochloride in 2% H3PO3 ) [63]. 3.0 ml of 10 mM sodium nitroprusside in phosphate buffer is added to 2.0 ml of extract and reference compound in different concentrations (20-100 µg/ml). The resulting solutions are then incubated at 25°C for 60 min. A similar procedure is repeated with methanol as blank, which serves as control. To 5.0 ml of the incubated sample, 5.0 ml of Griess reagent is added and absorbance is measured at 540 nm. Percent inhibition of the nitrite oxide generated is measured by comparing the absorbance values of control and test. Curcumin, caffeic acid, sodium nitrite [64], BHA, ascorbic acid, rutin [55] can be used as a positive control.
4.2.3. Xanthine oxidase assay
To determine superoxide anion-scavenging activity, two different assays can be used: the enzymatic method with cytochrome C [65] and nonenzymatic method with nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) [66]. With cytochrome C method, superoxide anions can be generated by xanthine and xanthine oxidase system. The extract (500 µl of 0.1 mg/ml) and allopurinol (100 µg/ml) (in methanol) is mixed with 1.3 ml phosphate buffer (0.05M, pH 7.5) and 0.2 ml of 0.2 units/ml xanthine oxidase solution. After 10 min of Incubation at 25°C, 1.5 ml of 0.15 M xanthine substrate solution is added to this mixture. The mixture is re-incubated for 30 min at 25°C and then the absorbance is taken at 293 nm using a spectrophotometer against blank (0.5 ml methanol, 1.3 ml phosphate buffer, 0.2 ml xanthine oxidase). BHT [67] can be used as a positive control. Percentage of inhibition was calculated using the formula:
where
As and Ac are the absorbance values of the test sample and control, respectively.
4.2.4. Metal chelating activity
Ferrozine can chelate with Fe++ and form a complex with a red color which can be quantified. This reaction is limited in the presence of other chelating agents and results in a decrease of the red color of the ferrozine-Fe++ complexes. Measurement of the color reduction estimates the chelating activity to compete with ferrozine for the ferrous ions [68]. The ferrous ions chelating activity can be measured by the decrease in absorbance at 562nm of iron (II)-ferrozine complex [69]. 1 ml of the extract is added to a solution of 1 ml of ferrous sulphate (0.125 mM). The reaction is initiated by the addition of 1 ml of ferrozine (0.3125 mM) and incubated at room temperature for 10 min and then the absorbance is measured at 562 nm. EDTA or citric acid [69] can be used as a positive control. The ability of sample to chelate ferrous was calculated relative to the control using formula
where
Ac-Absorbance of control, As-Absorbance of sample
4.2.5. Lipid peroxidation
The oxidation of linoleic acid generates peroxyl free radicals due to the abstraction of hydrogen atoms from diallylic methylene groups of linoleic acid. These free radicals later oxidize the highly unsaturated beta carotene (orange colour disappear) and the results can be monitored spectrophotometrically. The antioxidant activity is determined by the conjugated diene method [70]. Different concentration of extracts (0.1-20 mg/ml) in water or ethanol (100 µl) is mixed with 2.0 ml of 10 mM linoleic acid emulsion in 0.2 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6.6) and kept in dark at 37°C. After incubation for 15 h, 0.1 ml from each tube is mixed with 7.0 ml of 80% methanol in deionized water and the absorbance of the mixture is measured at 234 nm against a blank in a spectrophotometer. Later, this method was replaced by using thiocyanate. 0.5 ml of each extract sample with different concentration is mix up with linoleic acid emulision (2.5 ml 40 mM, pH 7.0). The final volume was adjusted to 5 ml by adding with 40 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.0. After incubation for 72 hours at 37° C in dark, 0.1 ml aliquot is mixed with 4.7 ml of ethanol (75%), 0.1 ml FeCl2 (20mM) and 0.1 ml ammonium thiocyanate (30%). The absorbance of mixture is measured at 500 nm in spectrophotometer. Ascorbic acid, BHT, gallic acid, α-tocopherol [70] can be used as a positive control.
The antioxidant activity is calculated as follows:
where
Ac-Absorbance of control, As-Absorbance of sample
4.2.6. Cyclic voltammetry method
The cyclic voltammetry procedure evaluates the overall reducing power of low molecular weight antioxidants. The sample is introduced into a well in which three electrodes are placed: the working electrode (e.g., glassy carbon), the reference electrode (Ag/AgCl), and the auxiliary electrode (platinum wire). The potential is applied to the working electrode at a constant rate (100 mV/s) either toward the positive potential (evaluation of reducing equivalent) or toward the negative potential (evaluation of oxidizing species). During operation of the cyclic voltammetry, a potential current curve is recorded (cyclic voltammogram). Recently quantitative determination of the phenolic antioxidants using voltammetric techniques was described by by Raymundo et al. [71] and Chatterjee et al. [72].
4.2.7. Photochemiluminescence (PCL) assay
PCL assay was initially used by [73, 74] to determine water-soluble and lipid-soluble antioxidants. The photochemiluminescence measures the antioxidant capacity, towards the superoxide radical, in lipidic and water phase. This method allows the quantification of the antioxidant capacity of both the hydrophilic and/or lipophilic substances, either as pure compounds of complex matrix from different origin. The PCL method is based on an acceleration of the oxidative reactions
5. Preparations of enzyme extracts
For determination of antioxidant enzymes activities, enzyme extraction can be prepared according to methods of Nayar and Gupta [76], Hakiman and Maziah [77]. Each plant material (0.5 g) was ground with 8 ml solution containing 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) and 1% polyvinylpolypyrolidone. The homogenate was centrifuged at 15000 rpm for 30 min and supernatant was collected for enzymes assays (ascorbate oxidase, peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione s-transferase and superoxide dismutase).
5.1. Ascorbate oxidase activity
Ascorbate oxidase activity can be measured with the method of Diallinas et al. [78]. 1.0 ml of reaction mixture contained 20 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) and 2.5 mM ascorbic acid. The reaction was initiated with the addition of 10 µl enzyme extract. The decrease in absorbance was observed for 3 min at 265 nm due to ascorbate oxidation and calculated using extinction coefficient, mM-1cm-1.
5.2. Peroxidase activity
Peroxidase activity was determined using the guaicol oxidation method [79, 80]. The 3 ml reaction mixture contains 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), 8 mM guaicol and 100 µl enzyme extract. The reaction was initiated by adding 0.5 ml of 1% H2O2. The increase in absorbance was recorded within 30 s at 430/470 nm. The unit of peroxidase activity was expressed as the change in absorbance per min and specific activity as enzyme units per mg soluble protein (extinction coefficient 6.39 mM-1cm-1).
5.3. Catalase activity
Catalase activity can be determined following the methods of Aebi [81] and Luck [82]. The reaction mixture (1ml) contain potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), 250 µl of enzyme extract and 60 mM H2O2 to initiate the reaction. The reaction was measured at 240 nm for 3 min and H2O2 consumption was calculated using extinction coefficient, 39.4 mM-1cm-1.
5.4. Ascorbate peroxidase activity
The reaction mixture for ascorbate peroxidase activity includes 100 mM tris-acetate buffer at pH 7.0, 2 mM ascorbic acid, enzyme extracts and 2 mM of H2O2 to initiate the reaction. The decrease in absorbance at 290 nm was measured and monitored for 100 s. The reaction was calculated using extinction coefficient, 2.8 mM-1cm-1[83].
5.5. Glutathione S-transferase activity
This assay can be performed according to the method of Habig [84]. The assay mixture containing 100 µl of GSH, 100 µl of CDNB and phosphate buffer 2.7 ml. The reaction was started by the addition of 100 µl enzyme extract to this mixture and absorbance was recorded against blank for three minutes. The complete assay mixture without the enzyme served as the control to monitor non-specific binding of the substrates. One unit of GST activity is defined as the nmoles of CDNB conjugated per minute.
5.6. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity
The activity of polyphenol oxidase, comprising of catechol oxidase and laccase, can be simultaneously assayed by the spectrophotometric method proposed by Esterbauer [85]. Plant samples (5g) were homogenized in about 20 ml medium containing 50 mM Tris HCl, pH 7.2, 0.4 M sorbitol and 10 mM NaCl. The homogenate was centrifuged at 2000 rpm for 10 minutes and the supernatant was used for the assay. The assay mixture contained 2.5ml of 0.1M phosphate buffer and 0.3 ml of catechol solution (0.01 M). The spectrophotometer was set at 495 nm. The enzyme extract (0.2 ml) was added to the same cuvette and the change in absorbance was recorded every 30 seconds up to 5 minutes. One unit of either catechol oxidase or laccase is defined as the amount of enzyme that transforms 1 μmole of dihydrophenol to 1 μmole of quinine per minute under the assay conditions. Activity of PPO is calculated using the formula Kx∆A/min where K for catechol=0.272 and K for laccase=0.242
5.7. Assay of superoxide dismutase (SOD)
The activity of superoxide dismutase was assayed spectrophotometrically by the method of Misra and Fridovich [86]. The incubation medium contained, in a final volume of 3.0 ml, 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.8), 45 µM methionine, 5.3 mM riboflavin, 84 µM NBT and 20 µM potassium cyanide. The amount of homogenate added to this medium was kept below one unit of enzyme to ensure sufficient accuracy. The tubes were placed in an aluminium foil-lined box maintained at 25°C and equipped with 15W fluorescent lamps. After exposure to light for 10 minutes, the reduced NBT was measured spectrophoto-metrically at 600nm. The maximum reduction was observed in the absence of the enzyme. One unit of enzyme activity was defined as the amount of enzyme giving a 50% inhibition of the reduction of NBT. The values were calculated as units/mg protein.
6. Conclusion
Currently there has been an increased global interest to identify antioxidant compounds from plant sources which are pharmacologically potent and have low or no side effects. Increased use of different chemicals, pesticides, pollutant, smoking and alcohol intake and even some of synthetic medicine enhances the chance of free radicals based diseases. Plants produces large amount of antioxidants to prevent the oxidative stress, they represent a potential source of new compounds with antioxidant activity. Increasing knowledge of antioxidant phytoconstituents and their inclusions can give sufficient support to human body to fight against those diseases. Phytoconstituents and herbal medicines are also important to manage pathological conditions of those diseases caused by free radicals. Therefore, it is time, to explore and identify our traditional therapeutic knowledge and plant sources and interpret it according to the recent advancements to fight against oxidative stress, in order to give it a deserving place. The present review is a compilation of different
Acknowledgement
I wish to express my profound gratitude to Prof. S. K. Dutta, Dr. A. K. Bastia and Dr. G. Sahoo (North Orissa University) for their cooperation and critical suggestion on the preparation of the manuscript. Thanks are also to Laxmipriya Padhi and Susmita Mohapatra (North Orissa University) for editing this manuscript.
References
- 1.
Ito N. Fukushima S. Tsuda H. 1985 Carcinogenicity and modification of the carcinogenic response by BHA and BHT and other anti-oxidants. CRC Critical Rev. Toxicol. 15: 109−150. - 2.
Yen GC, Chang YC, Su SW 2003 Anti-oxidant activity and active compounds of rice Koji fermented with Aspegillus candidus. Food Chem.83 49 54 - 3.
Khal R. dan Hilderbrant. A. G. 1986 Methodology for studying antioxidant activity and mechanism of action of antioxidant. Food Chem Toxicol.24 1007 1014 - 4.
Frankel EN 1993 In search of better methods to evaluate natural antioxidants and oxidative stability in food lipids. Trends Food Sci Technol.4 220 225 - 5.
Koleva I. I. Van Beek T. A. Linssen J. P. H. de Groot A. dan Evstatieva. L. N. 2002 Screening of plant extract for antioxidant activity: a comparative study on three testing methods. Phytochem Anal.13 8 17 - 6.
Roberto G. Baratta M. T. Deans S. G. dan Dorman. H. J. D. 2000 Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of Foeniculum vulgare and Crithmum maritimum essential oils. Planta Medica.66 687 693 - 7.
Tsai P. Mc Intosh J. Pearce P. Camden B. Jordon B. R. 2002 Anthocyanin and antioxidant capacity in Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) extract. Food Res. Int.35 4 351 356 - 8.
Wang H. Cao G. dan Prior. R. L. 1996 Total antioxidant capacity of fruits. J. Agric. Food Chem.44 701 05 - 9.
Zheng W. dan Wang. S. Y. 2001 Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in selected herbs. J. Agric. Food Chem.49 11 5165 5170 - 10.
Gazzani G. Papetti A. Massolini G. Daglia M. 1998 Antioxidant and prooxidant activity of soluble components of some common diet vegetables and effect of thermal treatment. J. Agric. Food Chem.46 4118 4122 - 11.
Arena E. Fallico B. dan Maccarone. E. 2001 Evaluation of antioxidant capacity of blood orange juices as influences by constituents, concentration process and storage. Food Chem.74 4 423 427 - 12.
Miller NJ, Diplock AT, dan Rice-Evans CA 1995 Evaluation of the total antioxidant activity as a marker of the deterioration of apple juice on storage. J. Agric. Food Chem.43 1794 1801 - 13.
Imark C. Kneubuhl M. dan Bodmer. S. 2000 Occurrence and activity of natural antioxidants in herbal spirits. Innovative Food Sci. Emerging Technol.1 4 239 243 - 14.
Donovan JL, Meyer AS, Waterhouse AL 1998 Phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of prunes and prune juice (Prunus domestica). J. Agric. Food Chem.46 1247 1752 - 15.
Pham-Huy L. A. He H. Pham-Huy C. 2008 Free radicals, antioxidants in disease and health. Int. J. Biomed. Sci.4 89 96 - 16.
Halliwell B. 1996 Oxidative stress, nutrition and health. Experimental strategies for optimization of nutritional antioxidant intake in humans. Free Radical Res.25 57 74 - 17.
Halliwell B. Gutteridge J. M. C. 1999 Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine, ed 2, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1999. - 18.
Desmarchelier C. Ciccia G. Cussio J. 2000 Recent advances in the search for antioxidant activity in South American plants. In: Atta-ur-Rahman editor. Studies in Natural Products Chemistry,22 343 367 - 19.
Gordon MH 1996 Dietary antioxidants in disease prevention. Nat. Prod. Rep.13 265 273 - 20.
Pokorny J. Korczak J. 2001 Preparation of natural antioxidant. In: Pokorny J, Yanishlieva N, Gordon M, editors, Antioxidants in Food: Practical Applications. Woodhead Publishing Limited, Abington, Cambridge, England,311 330 - 21.
Jacob RA 1995 The integrated antioxidant system. Nutr. Res.15 755 766 - 22.
Vimala S. Adenan M. I. 1999 Malaysian tropical forest medicinal plants: a source of natural antioxidants. J. Trop. Forest Prod.5 32 38 - 23.
Lindley MG 1998 The impact of food processing on antioxidants in vegetable oil, fruits and vegetable. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 9(8-9): 336-340 - 24.
Sen S. Chakraborty R. Sridhar C. Reddy Y. S. R. De B. 2010 Free radicals, antioxidants, diseases and phytomedicines: Current status and future prospect. Int. J. Pharma. Sc. Rev. Res.3 1 91 100 - 25.
Gutteridge J. M. C. Halliwell B. 1994 Antioxidants in nutrition, health and diseases. Oxford University Press: New York. - 26.
Halliwell B. Gutteridge J. M. C. 1989 Free radicals in biology and medicine, Clarendon Press: Oxford. - 27.
Gordon M. 1990 The mechanism of antioxidation action in vitro. In: Hudson BJF editor. Food Antioxidants. London: Elsevier.1 18 - 28.
Madhavi PL, Singhal RS, Kulkarni PR 1996 Technological aspects of food Antioxidants In: Madhavi PL, Deshpande SS, Salunkhe DK, editors. Food antioxidant: Technological, toxicological and health perspectives. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.159 266 - 29.
Prior R. L. Wu X. Schaich K. 2005 Standardized methods for the determination of antioxidant capacity and phenolics in foods and dietary supplements. J. Agric. Food Chem.53 4290 4302 - 30.
Amado LL, Jaramillo MD, Rocha AM, Ferreira JLR, Garcia LM, Ramos PB et al. 2007 A new method to evaluate total antioxidant capacity against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) in aquatic organisms. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. Part A, 148: S75 76 - 31.
Singleton VL, Rossi JA 1965 Colorimetry of total phenolics with phosphomolybdic phosphotungestic acid reagents. Am. J. Enol. Viticult.16 144 158 - 32.
Velioglu Y. S. Mazza G. Gao L. BD Oomah 1998 Antioxidant activity and total phenolics in selected fruits, vegetables and grain products. Agric. Food Chem.46 4113 4117 - 33.
Kahkonen M. P. Hopia A. I. Vuorela H. J. Rauha J. 1999 Antioxidant activity of plant extracts containing phenolic compounds. Agric. Food Chem.47 3954 3962 - 34.
Mc Donald S. Prenzler P. D. Antolovich M. Robards K. 2001 Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of olive extracts. Food Chem.73 73 84 - 35.
Huang D. Ou B. Prior R. L. 2005 The chemistry behind antioxidant capacity assays. Agric. Food Chem.53 1841 1856 - 36.
MacDonald-Wicks LK, Wood LG, Garg ML 2006 Methodology for the determination of biological antioxidant capacity in vitro: a review. J. Sci. Food Agric.86 2046 2056 - 37.
Wolfe K. Wu X. Liu R. H. 2003 Antioxidant activity of apple peels. J. Agric. Food Chem.51 609 614 - 38.
Yildirim A. Oktay M. Bilaoglu V. 2001 The antioxidant activity of the leaves of Cydonia vulgaris. Turkey J. Med. Sci.31 23 27 - 39.
Benavente-Garcia 1997 Uses and properties of Citrus flavonoids. J. Agri. Food Chem.45 4505 4515 - 40.
Chang C. Yang M. Wen H. Chern J. 2002 Estimation of total flavonoid content in propolis by two complementary colorimetric methods. J. Food Drug Anal.10 178 182 - 41.
Ordonez AAL, Gomez JD, Vattuone MA, Isla MI 2006 Antioxidant activities of Sechium edule (Jacq.) Swartz extracts. Food Chem.97 452 458 - 42.
Kim DO, Jeong SW, Lee CY 2003 Antioxidant capacity of phenolic phytochemicals from various cultivars of plums. Food Chem.81 321 326 - 43.
Oktay M. Gulcin I. Kufrevioglu O. I. 2003 Determination of in vitro antioxidant activity of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) seed extracts. Leb-Wissen Technol.36 263 271 - 44.
Athukorala Y. Kim K. N. Jeon Y. J. 2006 Antiproliferative and antioxidant properties of an enzymatic hydrolysate from brown alga Ecklonia cava. Food Chem. Toxicol.44 1065 1074 - 45.
Benzie IFF, Strain JJ 1999 Ferric reducing /antioxidant power assay: Direct measure of total antioxidant activity of biological fluids and modified version for simultaneous measurement of total antioxidant power and ascorbic acid concentration. Methods Enzymol.299 15 27 - 46.
Blois MS 1958 Antioxidant determinations by the use of a stable free radical. Nature181 1149 1150 - 47.
Liyana-Pathirana C. M. Shahidi F. 2005 Antioxidant activity of commercial soft and hard wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as affected by gastric pH conditions. J. Agric. Food Chem.53 2433 2440 - 48.
Stratil P. Klejdus B. Kuban V. 2006 Determination of total content of phenolic compounds and their antioxidant activity in vegetables-Evaluation of spectrophotometric methods. J. Agric. Food Chem.54 607 616 - 49.
Re R. Pellegrini N. Proteggente A. Pannala A. Yang M. Rice-Evans C. 1999 Antioxidant activity applying an improved ABTS radical cation decolorization assay. Free Radiation Biol. Med.26 1231 1237 - 50.
Alzoreky N. Nakahara K. 2001 Antioxidant activity of some edible Yemeni plants evaluated by ferrylmyoglobin/ABTS+assay. Food Sci. Technol. Res.7 141 144 - 51.
Auddy B. Ferreira M. Blasina F. Lafon L. Arredondo F. Dajas F. Tripathi P. C. Seal T. Mukherjee B. 2003 Screening of antioxidant activity three Indian medicinal plants traditionally used for the management of neurodegenerative diseases. J. Ethnopharmcol.84 131 138 - 52.
Meyer-Isaksen A. 1995 Application of enzymes as food antioxidants. Trends Food Sci. Technol.6 300 304 - 53.
Robak J. Gryglewski R. J. 1988 Flavonoids are scavengers of superoxide anions. Biochem. Pharmacol.37 837 841 - 54.
Dasgupta N. De B. 2004 Antioxidant activity of Piper betel L. leaf extract in vitro. Food Chem.88 219 224 - 55.
Dasgupta N. De B. 2007 Antioxidant activity of some leafy vegetables of India: A comparative study. Food Chem.101 471 474 - 56.
Nishikimi M. Rao N. A. Yagi K. 1972 The occurrence of superoxide anion in the reaction of reduced phenazine methosulfate and molecular oxygen. Biochem. Biophy. Res. Commun.46 849 854 - 57.
Halliwell B. Gutteridge J. M. C. 1981 Formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances from deoxyribose in the presence of iron salts: the role of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals. FEBS Lett.128 347 352 - 58.
Hinneburg I. Dorman H. J. D. Hiltunen R. 2006 Antioxidant activities of extracts from selected culinary herbs and spices. Food Chem.97 122 129 - 59.
Kunchandy E. Rao M. N. A. 1990 Oxygen radical scavenging activity of curcumin. Int. J. Pharmacol.58 237 240 - 60.
Halliwell B. Gutteridge J. M. C. Aruoma O. I. 1987 The deoxyribose method: a simple ‘test tube’ assay for determination of rate constants for reaction of hydroxyl radicals. Ann. Biochem.165 215 219 - 61.
Ruch RJ, Cheng SJ, Klaunig JE 1989 Prevention of cytotoxicity and inhibition of intercellular communication by antioxidant catechins isolated from Chinese green tea. Carcinogenenesis10 1003 1008 - 62.
Jayaprakasha G. K. Jaganmohan Rao. L. Sakariah K. K. 2004 Antioxidant activities of flavidin in different in vitro model systems. Bioorg. Med. Chem.12 5141 5146 - 63.
Green L. C. Wagner D. A. Glogowski J. Skipper P. L. Wishnok J. S. Tannenbaum S. R. 1982 Analysis of nitrate, nitrite and 15N nitrate in biological fluids. Ann. Biochem.126 131 138 - 64.
Sreejayan Rao MN 1997 Nitric oxide scavenging by curcuminoids. J. Pharm. Pharmacol.49 105 107 - 65.
Mc Cord J. M. Fridovich I. 1969 Superoxide dismutase, an enzymic function for erythrocuprein (Hemocuoprein). J. Biol. Chem.244 6049 6055 - 66.
Zhang HY, Lu CS 1990 A study of the SOD-like activity of some copper (II)-small peptide and amino acid complexes. Acta Biochem. Biophys. Sin.22 593 594 - 67.
Chang WS, Lin CC, Chuang SC, Chiang HC 1996 Superoxide anion scavenging effect of coumarins. Am. J. Chin. Med.24 11 17 - 68.
Soler-Rivas C. Espin J. C. Wichers H. J. 2000 An easy and fast test to compare total free radical scavenger capacity of foodstuffs. Phytochem. Anal.11 330 338 - 69.
Dinis TCP, Madeira VMC, Almeida LM 1994 Action of phenolic derivatives (acetoaminophen, salicylate and 5-aminosalicylate) as inhibitors of membrane lipid peroxidation and as peroxy radical scavengers. Arch. Biochem. Biophys.315 161 169 - 70.
Lingnert H. Vallentin K. CE Eriksson 1979 Measurement of antioxidative effect in model system. J. Food Process Preservation3 87 103 - 71.
MS Raymundo Paula. M. M. S. Franco C. Fett R. 2007 Quantitative determination of the phenolic antioxidants using voltammetric techniques. Food Sci. Technol.40 1133 1139 - 72.
Chatterjee S. Niaz Z. Gautam S. Adhikari S. Variyar P. S. Sharma A. 2007 Antioxidant activity of some phenolic constituents from green pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and fresh nutmeg mace (Myristica fragrans). Food Chem.101 515 523 - 73.
Popov I. N. Lewin G. 1994 Photochemiluminescent detection of antiradical activity: II. Testing of nonenzymic water-soluble antioxidants. Free Radical Biol. Med.17 267 271 - 74.
Popov I. N. Lewin G. 1996 Photochemiluminescent detection of antiradical activity; IV: Testing of lipid-soluble antioxidants. J. Biochem. Biophys. Methods.31 1 8 - 75.
Wang M. Tsao R. Zhang S. Dong Z. Yang R. Gong J. et al. 2006 Antioxidant activity, mutagenicity/anti-mutagenicity, and clastogenicity/anti-clastogenicity of lutein from marigold flowers. Food Chem. Toxicol.44 1522 529 - 76.
Nayyar H. Gupta D. 2006 Differential sensitivity of C3 and C4 plants to water deficit stress: Association with oxidative stress and antioxidants. Environ. Exp. Bot.58 106 113 - 77.
Hakiman M. Maziah M. 2009 Non enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant activities in aqueous extract of different Ficus deltoidea accessions. Afr. J. Biotechnol.3 3 120 131 - 78.
Diallinas G. Pateraki I. Sanmartin M. Scossa A. Stilianou E. et al. 1997 Melon ascorbate oxidase: cloning of a multigene family, induction during fruit development and repression by wounding. Plant Mol. Biol.34 759 770 - 79.
Chance B. Machly C. 1955 Assay of catalase and peroxidases. Methods Enzymol.11 764 775 - 80.
Reddy KP, Subhani SM, Khan PA, Kumar KB 1995 Effect of light and benzyl adenine on dark treated growing rice (Oryza sativa) leaves-changes in peroxidase activity. Plant Cell. Physiol.26 987 994 - 81.
Aebi H. 1984 Catalase in vitro. Methods Enzymol.105 121 126 - 82.
Luck H. 1974 Methods in enzymatic analysis. Academic Press, New York, 885. - 83.
Ali MB, Hahn EJ, Paek KY 2005 Effects of light intensities on antioxidant enzymes and malondildehyde content during short-term acclimatization on micropropagated Phalaenopsis plantlet. Environ. Exp. Bot.54 109 120 - 84.
Habig WH, Pabst MJ, Jokoby WB 1974 Glutathione transferase: A first enzymatic step in mercapturic acid III formation, J. Biol. Chem.249 7130 7139 - 85.
Esterbauer H. Schwarzl E. Hayn M. 1977 A rapid assay for catechol oxidase and laccase using 2-nitro-5-thiobenzoic acid. Anal. Biochem.77 486 494 - 86.
Misra H. P. Fridovich I. 1972 The role of superoxide anion in the antioxidation of epinephrine and a simple assay for superoxide dismutase. J. Biol. Chem.247 3170 3171