Antioxidant activity of the phenolic compounds of hawthorn, pine and skullcap

The significance of antioxidants in preventive medicine is well known. Increasing interest has been devoted to naturally occurring compounds – polyphenols – because of their beneficial health effects. The subject of this study was to examine the antioxidative activity of polyphenolic preparations containing oligomeric procyanidin from the bark of common pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha L.) and flavones of skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi) roots. Multi-constituent mixtures were fractionated, and the antioxidative activity of fractions was tested in vitro with linoleic acid oxidation by AAPH-generated radicals. All preparations at 6 and 12 ppm concentrations exhibited protective activity, from 45% to 95% in relation to the control sample. The average activity of preparations was higher than those of their fractions used at the same concentrations, and it was similar to trolox and BHT activity.