Oxidation Resistance of the Extracts from Illicium verum Hook.f.

Star anise (Illicium verum Hook. f.), an important source of natural anti-oxidants, was extracted with solvents of water, ethanol, actone and n- butanol, respectively. The extracts were determined in free radical scavenging activity by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The volatile oil and the ethyl acetate extract from these extracts were used as antioxidants and added into the lard quantitatively, and the peroxide value (POV) of the lard stored for a given time was measured to compare the influence of different rates of the volatile oil and the ethyl acetate extract on oxidation resistance of the lard. The results showed that the extracts varied in free radical scavenging activity which was the highest in the ethanol extract with the order of ethanoln- butanolactonewater under the same concentration. The volatile oil was low in anti-oxidative activity while the ethyl acetate extract had very high anti-oxidative activity. The ethyl acetate extract was higher in oxidation resistance when added into the lard at a rate of 0.10% (w) than the butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) at a rate of 0.02% (w), and had higher anti-oxidative activity when added at a higher rate.