Antioxidant functions of E- and Z-ajoene derived from Japanese garlic

Abstract

Antioxidative activities of E- and Z-ajoene prepared from Japanese garlic were studied using various radical scavenging effects. Among the various antioxidative activities tested, ajoene was found to show the highest hydroxyl radicals scavenging activity (E-ajoene = 50% and Z-ajoene = 63%). These ajoene were 5.2-13 times less efficient at reducing DPPH radical and 1.1-1.4 times less efficient at hydroxyl radical as compared with authentic α-tocopherol. Essentially E- and Z-ajoene were capable of scavenging superoxide anion (E- ajoene = 0.11%, Z-ajoene = 3.74%), but 80 minutes later antioxidant activity could not be detected. The effectiveness of Z-ajoene is significantly higher than E-ajoene. Copyright © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.