Antioxidant activities and DNA fingerprint of 4 varieties Lotus stamens

Stamens of sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaerth), or Royal Lotus in Thai, are used as a heart stimulant and as an active ingredient in many Thai traditional recipes. This work is part of the standard and specification establishment of lotus stamens used in Thai traditional medicine [1]. Stamens from four varieties of Nelumbo nucifera (Gaerth) were investigated for their DNA fingerprints, and their antioxidant activities, DPPH and TBARS [2–6]. The PCR amplification was used for identification of Lotus DNA by using OPS3, OPS11, OPS13 and OPE3 random-decamer primers. The result showed variety-specific markers of Pathum, Sattabongkot, Boontharik and Sattabutre varieties. The antioxidant activities (IC₅₀) of these four Lotus varieties by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) model were 69.0±6.3, 62.5±4.0, 32.3±3.4 and 40.5±1.5µg.mL^-1, respectively. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) model were 47.3±6.3, 45.3±2.3, 23.0±5.6 and 29.1±2.3µg.mL^-1, respectively. The results showed that IC₅₀ in both methods of Sattabongkot were significantly low (p<0.05, at the confidence level of 95%).

References: [1] Aromdee, C.; Phonkot, N. (2005) The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Supplement 29(-): 30. [2] Belitz HD, Grosch W. (1999). Food Chemistry, 2^nd ed., Germany: Springer. p208. [3] Heim, K.E. et al. (2002) Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 13(10): 572–584. [4] Horwitz W. (2000) Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International, 17^th ed., Vol. 2. Maryland: AOAC International, chapter 45: p5. [5] Jung H.A. et al. (2003) Arch Pharm Res; 26(4):279–85. [6] Pourmorad, F. et al. (2006) African Journal of Biotechnology. 5(11): 1142–1145.