Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity and Preventing DNA Damage Effect of Pomegranate Extracts by Chemiluminescence Method

Abstract

The antioxidant activities of three parts (peel, juice, and seed) and extracts of three pomegranate varieties in China were investigated by using a chemiluminescence (CL) method in vitro. The scavenging ability of pomegranate extracts (PEs) on superoxide anion, hydroxide radical, and hydrogen peroxide was determined by the pyrogallol−luminol system, the CuSO₄−Phen−Vc−H₂O₂ system, and the luminol−H₂O₂ system, respectively. DNA damage preventing the effect of PE was determined by the CuSO₄−Phen−Vc−H₂O₂−DNA CL system. The results showed that the peel extract of red pomegranate had the best effect on the scavenging ability of superoxide anion because its IC₅₀ value (4.01 ± 0.09 μg/mL) was the lowest in all PEs. The seed extract of white pomegranate could scavenge hydroxide radical most effectively of the nine extracts (the IC₅₀ value was 1.69 ± 0.03 μg/mL). The peel extract of white pomegranate had the best scavenging ability on hydrogen peroxide, which had the lowest IC₅₀ value (0.032 ± 0.003 μg/mL) in the nine extracts. The seed extract of white pomegranate (the IC₅₀ value was 3.67 ± 0.03 μg/mL) was the most powerful on the DNA damage-preventing effect in all of the PEs. Also, the statistical analysis indicated that there were significant differences (at P < 0.05) among the extracts of the different varieties and parts in each system. Keywords: Pomegranate; Punica granatum L.; chemiluminescence; antioxidant activity in vitro; DNA damage