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Estimation of Scavenging Activity of Phenolic Compounds Using the ABTS^•+ Assay

Nikolaos Nenadis,^† Lan-Fen Wang,^‡ Maria Tsimidou,*^† and Hong-Yu Zhang*^‡

Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Technology, School of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece, and Laboratory for Computational Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, People's Republic of China

J. Agric. Food Chem., 2004, 52 (15), pp 4669–4674

DOI: 10.1021/jf0400056

Publication Date (Web): June 26, 2004

†

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

‡

Shandong University of Technology.

Corresponding authors [(M.T.) telephone ++302310997796, fax ++302310997779, e-mail tsimidou@chem.auth.gr; (H.-Y.Z.) telephone ++86-533-2780271, fax ++86-533-2780271; e-mail zhanghy@sdut.edu.cn].

Abstract

Observations on the applicability of the ABTS^•+ assay to define structure−activity relationships (SARs) among phenols (AH) were based on experimental data and theoretical calculations. All AH examined (hydroxycinnamic derivatives, simple polyphenols, polyhydroxybenzoates, and flavonoids) were found to be active toward ABTS^•+. Moreover, known weak radical scavengers (i.e., coumaric and isoferulic acids) were found to be efficient or comparatively active to caffeic or rosmarinic acids in contradiction to the AH classification based on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) data or the bond dissociation enthalpy values. This behavior was observed both in ethanol and in buffered (pH 7.4) environment. Resorcinol and phloroglucin were found to be more active than catechol and hydroquinone, whereas, among polyhydroxybenzoates, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid was the least active, in line with the DPPH and theoretical data. Therefore, it can be argued that the ABTS^•+ assay may give an indication for the presence of antioxidants in a certain system but SARs cannot be readily inferred.

Keywords: ABTS^•+ assay; DPPH assay; DFT calculations; structure−activity relationship; phenolic antioxidants

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