Abstract

The radical scavenging effects by α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and superoxide anions of anthocyanin extract from purple sweet potato were investigated. The antioxidation experiments showed that the reducing power of the anthocyanin extract reduced 0.572 at 0.5 mg/ml, while those of L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) reduced 0.460 and 0.121, respectively. They also displayed potent antioxidant effects against the DPPH radical and superoxide anions radical, showing the IC₅₀ values of 6.94 and 3.68 µg/ml, respectively. Moreover, this anthocyanin extract also could significantly inhibit the formation of lipid peroxidation compound. Sixteen kinds of anthocyanins in purple sweet potato were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD), and most of the anthocyanins were acylated.

Key words: Antioxidant activity, anthocyanins, purple sweet potato.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: DPPH, α,α-Diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl; L-AA, L-ascorbic acid; BHT,butylated hydroxytoluene.