No abstract

This study was conducted to examine antioxidative and physiological activities of water extracts from different parts (flower, leaf, root, and the whole plant) of Taraxacum officinale. The water extracts from different parts were measured to obtain total flavonoids content, total polyphenol content, electron donating ability, SOD-like activity, nitrite-scavenging ability and tyrosinase inhibition effects. Total flavonoids and total polyphenol contents in flower extract were 32.91 mg/g and 49.31 mg/g, respectively, which were much higher than those of any other parts. The electron donating abilities of flower, leaf, the whole plant, and root extracts were 87.07%, 87.66%, 81.06% and 66.20%, respectively at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. The activities increased in a dose-dependent manner. The SOD-like activity of water extracts from different parts showed 9.07～10.97% at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. The nitrite-scavenging abilities of flower and leaf extracts measured at pH 1.2 were 36.34% and 38.16%, respectively at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. Tyrosinase inhibition activity of the leaf extract at a concentration of 1 mg/mL was the highest (34.19%) and that of the whole plant and root extracts was shown to be more than 20%. These results suggest that water extracts from different parts of Taraxacum officinale could be used as an antioxidative functional food source.