• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.817-823
• /
• 2011

Angelicae gigas Nakai has been used as a traditional medicine as well as an edible vegetable in South Korea. In this study, the total phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidants of A. gigas Nakai leaves were examined in vitro via hydroxyl-radical-scavenging activity, reducing power activity, metal chelating assay, and DPPH-free -radical-scavenging assay. Among all the extracts from A. gigas Nakai leaves, the ethanol extract showed the strongest effects in all of the assays. The $EC_{50}$ values for the DPPH-radical-scavenging activities of ethanol, methanol, and water extracts were 31.47, 42.14, and $58.47{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Among the extracts from A. gigas Kakai leaves, the ethanol extract had the highest levels of total phenolics ($7.84{\pm}1.46$ mg TAN/g) and total flavonoids ($4.23{\pm}0.03$ mg QE/g), which correlated strongly with the individual phenolic-compound (p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillin, and trans-ferulic acid) contents. The ethanol extract also showed stronger antioxidant activity than tocopherol in hydroxyl- radical-scavenging activity assay. These results indicate that the ethanol extract of A. gigas Kakai leaves possesses significant antioxidant properties, which suggests its great potential as a functional-food ingredient in the food industry.