Antioxidant and Photo-antioxidant Activities of Phenylpropanoids

Abstract

Phenylpropanoids are one of the metabolic products of phenylalanine and tyrosine. The antioxidant and photo- antioxidant activities were studied kinetically and along the metabolic pathway, to investigate the possibility of application to petrochemical products. The metabolites showed only slight photo-antioxidant activities, compared with a commercial ultraviolet absorber (2-hydroxybenzophenone). In contrast, almost all metabolites showed higher or more excellent antioxidant activities than a typical commercial antioxidant, 3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene (BHT). Ethyl caffeate can trap 2.7 mol/mol of peroxy radicals, and has 2.4 times higher antioxidant performance than BHT. Such a metabolite can be safely applied to petrochemical products as an excellent antioxidant for food preservation or food containers