Comparison of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities in rice varieties.

Fifty-four Korean native and 28 foreign varieties harvested in 1998 and 1999 were examined for superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities. The SOD and POD activities of leaves extracts in Korean native and foreign rice varieties showed variation at the heading stage. The activities of SOD and POD changed with growth stage. In comparison of storage duration, the SOD and POD activities of the extract from three months stored seeds in Korean native (CV=53.3%) and foreign rice (CV=57.9%) varieties were higher than that of stored rices for a year in seed extracts although the activities among varieties did not show significant variation. Also, the averaged activity of foreign rice varieties (SOD=12.9%) was relatively higher than that of korean native rice varieties (SOD=10.7%). The test of activity at the enzymatic level related to antioxidative activity suggests that the rice varieties with higher antioxidative potentials can be developed and also may provide information with rice breeder to breed rice variety with a high antioxidative activity.