Arjunic acid, a strong free radical scavenger from Terminalia arjuna.

This study was designed to investigate the antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacities of arjunic acid, an aglycone obtained from the fruit of medicine Terminalia Fruit. Liver microsomes, mitochondria, and red blood cells (RBCs) were prepared from Wistar rats. The antioxidant capacity was determined by the inhibitory effect on lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide induced RBCs hemolysis, and RBCs autoxidative hemolysis. The free radical scavenging activity was tested by DPPH method and 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluoresc in diacetate (DCFH(2)-DA) assay. Ascorbic acid was chosen as the positive controls. Results showed that arjunic acid was a strong antioxidant and a free radical scavenger, more potent than ascorbic acid, in microsomes lipid peroxidation, DPPH, hydrogen peroxide induced RBCs hemolysis, and (DCFH(2)-DA) assay (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in the RBCs autoxidative hemolysis assay (p > 0.05).