Heat Processing of Edible Plants Grown in Korea Has Differential Effects on Their Antioxidant Capacity in Bovine Brain Homogenate

Oxidant radicals are implicated as a causal factor in the pathogenesis of neurobiological disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity of edible plants against oxidative stress in bovine brain tissue. Fifty five kinds of edible plants grown in Korea were dried either by freeze-drying or hot-air drying (70℃), and evaluated for their antioxidant activity by measuring TBARS (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances) in brain homogenates subjected to Fe^(+2)-mediated lipid peroxidation with or without the addition of botanical extracts. Heat-drying decreased the antioxidant activity of most plant extracts by 10～81%, compared with freeze-drying. However, Aruncus americanus, Ligularia stenocephala, Artemisia princceps var. orientalis, Petasites japonicus and Aster scaber showed very strong antioxidant activities regardless of processing, with or without heat treatment. The IC_(50) values of the methanol extracts from these edible plants were in the range of 0.093～0.379 mg/mL, which was lower than that of ascorbic acid (0.79 mg/mL). Thermal processing of some edible plants enhanced their antioxidant activity.