J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Jul; 49(7): 3476-9.

Antioxidant activity of Centaurium erythraea infusion evidenced by its superoxide radical scavenging and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity.

ValentÃ£o P, Fernandes E, Carvalho F, Andrade PB, Seabra RM, Bastos ML.

CEQUP/ServiÃ§o de Farmacognosia and CEQUP/ServiÃ§o de Toxicologia, Faculdade de FarmÃ¡cia, Universidade do Porto, R. AnÃbal Cunha 164, 4050-047 Porto, Portugal.

Centaurium erythraea Rafin. (Gentianaceae) has long been used in traditional medicine. This plant contains considerable amounts of polyphenolic compounds, namely, xanthones and phenolic acids as the main constituents. Because phenolic groups exhibit activity as radical scavengers and/or metal chelators, this study evaluated the superoxide radical scavenging properties of a lyophilized infusion obtained from C. erythraea flowering tops. Superoxide radical scavenging activity was assayed using enzymatic (xanthine/xanthine oxidase) and nonenzymatic (NADH/phenazine methosulfate) superoxide generating systems. This study provided evidence that C. erythraea exhibits interesting antioxidant properties, expressed either by the capacity to scavenge superoxide radical or to noncompetitively inhibit xanthine oxidase. The main phenolic compounds present in this extract were several esters of hydroxycinnamic acids, namely, p-coumaric, ferulic, and sinapic acids.