Chemical Composition and Active Antioxidants of Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. Bark

Chemical composition of the Eucommia ulmoides bark, including extractives, proximate, mineral, fatty acid and monosaccharide compositions, was studied The most abundant mineral was calcium (533.17 mg/l00 g). $\alpha-linolenic$ acid (24.7%) and linoleic acid (24.3%), showed higher contents among the fatty acids. Major monosaccharides of E. ulmoides balk were arabinose (13.94 mg/g), xylose (18.91 mg/g) and glucose (119.7 mg/g). From the bark of E ulmoides, four compounds were isolated and their structures were elucidated as caffeic acid (I), kaempferol (II), quercetin (III) and isoquercitrin (IV) by spectroscopic analysis such as NMR and MS, including cellulose TLC and other chemical evidence such as hydrolyzation and acetylation. The antioxidant activities of four isolated compounds were evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging, hydroxyl scavenging and reducing power assays. The results indicated that all the isolated compounds showed higher DPPH radical scavenging activity than $\alpha-tocopherol$ and BHT that were used as positive controls and these four compounds exhibited considerable reducing power and hydroxyl radical (OH) scavenging activity. Considering from the results above, it suggests that the E. ulmoides bark is a potential natural source of antioxidant material.