Characterization of Five Kinds of Wood Vinegar Obtained from Agricultural and Forestry Wastes and Identification of Major Antioxidants in Wood Vinegar

Wood vinegar(WV) has a powerful antioxidant activity, but it is unclear which components are responsible for the antioxidant activity. In the present study, the double-column retention index qualitative method was used for the identification of the major components in five kinds of WV. And the major antioxidants of wood vinegar were accurately identified with the aid of Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and authentic standard samples. Our results demonstrate that phenolic compounds are mainly responsible for the powerful antioxidant activity. 2,6-Dimethoxyphenol is the most powerful antioxidant in WV. 2-Methoxyphenol and 3-methyl-1,2-cyclopentanedione also have an important influence on the antioxidant activity of WV. Our results suggest that the contents of 2-methoxyphenol, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol and 3-methyl-1,2-cyclopentanedione should act as the criteria for evaluating the antioxidant activity of WV. Our work will provide useful information for WV’s application in the fields of food and medicine as antioxidants.