Investigation of in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activities of flavonoids rich extract from the berries of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa(Ait.) Hassk

This study investigated the in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activities of the flavonoids rich extract from Rhodomyrtus tomentosa Hassk (R. tomentosa) berries. The in vitro antioxidant assay demonstrated that the flavonoids rich extract (62.09% rutin equivalent) extracted by ethanol and purified by AB-8 macroporous resin was strong in reducing power, superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical and DPPH radical scavenging activity, as well as inhibiting lipid peroxidation. In the in vivo assays, the flavonoids rich extract significantly enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes in serums of mice after they were administered with the extract. The results suggested that the flavonoids rich extract from R. tomentosa fruits possesses potent antioxidant properties. In addition, the chemical compositions of flavonoids rich extract were identified by UPLC–TOF-MS/MS. Six flavonoids were tentatively identified as myricetin, quercetin, dihydromyricetin, kaempferol, quercetin 7,4′-diglucoside and vitexin. Therefore, R. tomentosa berries could be used as a new source of antioxidant ingredient.