Antioxidant activity of hot-water extracts and floral waters from natural plant pigments

The antioxidant potentials of ten kinds of medicinal plants used as natural dyeing agents were tested. Among the plant extracts and floral waters that were examined in this study, the antioxidant activities of the DPPH and ABTS radical scavengers increased with increasing amounts of the extracts. The hot-water extracts from Aphis chinensis, Caesalpinia sappan L., Rumex crispus L., and Areca catechu effectively inhibited the DPPH and ABTS radicals at concentration below 0.1 mg/mL. The floral water obtained through steam distillation from Areca catechu, Rubia akane Nakai, Coptis chinensis, and Phellodendron amurense showed relatively valid antioxidant activities. In particular, the natural colorants extracted from Rumex crispus L., Areca catechu, and Aphis chinensis effectively suppressed the photogenerated singlet oxygen induced by a photosensitizer in in-vitro assay systems. The concentrations (IC50) of the hot-water Aphis chinensis extract required to exert a 50% reduction effect on DPPH, ABTS, and singlet oxygen were found to be 8.5, 8.0, and 210 μg/mL, respectively. The study results suggest that extracts derived from naturally occurring colorants as well as floral waters could be used as natural antioxidants in the food and health-care industries.