Antiradical Capacities of Perilla, Sesame and Sunflower Oil

The aim of this study is to examine the radical scavenging activity of perilla and sesame oil that Koreans traditionally consume. For DPPH radical scavenging activity, oil and its hexane/70% methanol extracts (ME) are used and for superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities, ME are used. Unrefined perilla oil, sesame oil, and refined sunflower oil are used. The yields for ME of perilla, sesame and sunflower oil are 0.57, 0.61, and 0.30%, respectively, and the amounts of phenolic compounds in ME of corresponding oil are 18.77, 88.64 and $0.05\;{\mu}g$ tannic acid/mg, respectively. $IC_{50}$ for DPPH scavenging activity of perilla, sesame and sunflower oil are 2.12, 1.91, and 3.35 mg/mL, respectively and those for ME of corresponding oils are 0.42, 0.07, and 43.11 mg/mL, respectively. In DPPH assay, the solvent used for oil sample is iso-octane and that for ME is methanol. Superoxide anion scavenging activity of ME of perilla, sesame and sunflower oil tested at 1 mg/mL concentration are 21.10, 13.25, and 3.14%, respectively. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of those samples tested at 1 mg/mL concentration are 86.08, 93.30, and 93.17%, respectively. In summary, the refining process seems to remove the phenolic compound during oil processing. Antiradical substances in perilla and sesame oils responsible for scavenging DPPH radicals are present in the methanol fraction, while the antiradical substances in the sunflower oil are in the lipid fraction. DPPH scavenging activity of ME of sesame oil is significantly higher than that of perilla oil (p<0.05). However, superoxide anion scavenging capacity of ME of perilla oils was found to be greater than that of both sesame and sunflower oils (p<0.05).