Comparative study on free radical scavenging activities of 45 fresh flowers

The scavenging activities of the aqueous extracts on DPPH~(•), superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals in 45 kinds of fresh flowers and their correlation with polyphenolic and flavonoid contents were tested. The results indicated: (a) carmine rose was a good scavenger to the three kinds of free radicals; (b) the DPPH~(•) and superoxide anion radical-scavenging activities of the aqueous extracts might be attributed to the polyphenolic content, but not flavonoid content; (c) the scavenging activities of carmine rose to DPPH~(•) and superoxide anion radicals were very strong, and the scavenging activities of 1.00 mg fresh rose flowers on DPPH~(•) and superoxide anion radicals were equal to 18.74 #mu#g Vc, respectively; and (d) the scavenging activity of carmine rose on hydroxyl radical was better than Vc.