In vitro antioxidant analysis and characterisation of antler velvet extract.

The chemical composition and antioxidant properties of antler velvet extract prepared by supercritical CO2 extraction with co-solvent are presented in this study. The composition in different extracts was determined by radioimmunoassay analysis (RIA), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin layer chromatographic (TLC), separately. The antioxidant properties including hydroxyl radical-scavenging by phenanthroline-Fe(II) oxidation, inhibition of lipid peroxidation from lipoprotein induced by iron and the ability of the extract to protect 2-deoxy-d-ribose against hydroxyl radical-mediated degradation were assessed. The extract mainly contained three biological bases, two sex hormones, five phospholipids and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, which may contribute greatly to antioxidant activity. The antler velvet extracts demonstrated activity in the three antioxidant assays, and did so in a concentration-dependent fashion. The supercritical extract technology showed obvious advantage, and the inhibitory activity of SFE extract was obviously higher than that of traditional refluxing extracts.