Antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective activity of Shanxi aged vinegar in hydrogen peroxide-treated HepG-2 cells

Abstract

Traditional vinegars are typical fermented food, which have rich antioxidant ingredients such as polyphenols, flavonoids and melanoidins. This study aims to investigate antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective activity of Shanxi aged vinegar. The results showed that total phenolic and flavonoid contents of B-3 were 5.836 mg GAE/g and 4.554 RE/g, which were the highest among all the samples. B-3 showed the highest antioxidant capability among all the samples by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays. In addition, the protective effects of B-3 against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative damage in vivo were also measured. B-3 had no toxicity at the tested concentrations. Pretreatment of B-3 prior to 400 μM H2O2 exposure markedly increased cell viability and reversed H2O2-induced oxidative damage in HepG2 cells. Collectively, these findings indicate that Shanxi aged vinegar could protect against H2O2-induced hepatotoxicity via its antioxidant activity. It will provide a reference for further study on antioxidant mechanisms of traditional vinegar.