To investigate the antioxidative potential of ramie (Boehmeria nivea L.) leaves, alcoholic extracts with different ethanol concentration were prepared. The extract obtained by using 70% ethanol possessed the highest total phenolic content. The extract...
To investigate the antioxidative potential of ramie (Boehmeria nivea L.) leaves, alcoholic extracts with different ethanol concentration were prepared. The extract obtained by using 70% ethanol possessed the highest total phenolic content. The extraction yield and total phenolic content of the ethanolic extract were 15.46% and 105.0 μg chlorogenic acid equivalent (CAE)/mg, respectively. Therefore, the antioxidant activities of the extract were evaluated as 2,2diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, reducing power and nitrite scavenging ability. EC 50 value for radical scavenging and nitrite scavenging activities, which is the effective concentration at which 50% of DPPH radicals and nitrites are scavenged, were 34.72 μg/mL and 52.99 μg/mL, respectively. EC 50 value for reducing power, which is the effective concentration at which the absorbance is 0.5, is 44.39 μg/mL. All antioxidant activities increased as extract concentration increased. These results imply that the ethanolic extract of ramie leaves has the potential to be utilized as an effective antioxidant source.