Amino acids, bioactive compounds and biological activities of ten species from family Commelinaceae in Thailand

Abstract

Commelinaceae is used for ethnobotany. However, bioactive compounds information of this family is few data. The aim here was to determine the bioactive compounds and quantify the antioxidant activity from leaves 10 species. Twenty amino acids were identified using LC/MS/MS. The antioxidant contents were evaluated by the total phenolic and total flavonoid content assays. The individual phenolic acids, flavonoids and vitamin c were identified by HPLC. The antioxidant activities detected were DPPH scavenging and FRAP assay. The total amino acids found in most samples studied ranging from 239 to 1012 gg/g DW. Vitamin C contents were in the range of 23 to 195 mg/100 g DW. Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents ranged from 11.3 to 35.7 mg GAE/g DW and 56.7 to 368.7 mg RE/100 g DW, respectively. All the species studied possessed strong antioxidant properties (DPPH and FRAP). This result can be applied for further development of functional foods or cosmetics.