Study on Antioxidant Activities of Ethanol Extracts from Leaves of Chimonanthus praecox

[Objective] The study aimed to determine the flavonoid content and the antioxidant activities of the ethanol extracts from the leaves of Chimonanthus praecox.[Method] With the leaves of C.praecox as the tested material,they were extracted with the ethanol to get the ethanol extracts from C.praecox leaves,the total flavonoids content and the total antioxidant activities of the ethanol extracts were detected and their scavenging action on the superoxide anion radical,hydroxyl radicals and DPPH radical were analyzed.[Result] The flavonoid content in 0.1 g/ml ethanol extracts from the leaves of C.praecox was 1.4 mg/ml and the total flavonoid content in C.praecox leaves was 1.4%.In the tested range,the ethanol extracts from C.praecox leaves had some scavenging capacity in different degree on the superoxide anion radical,hydroxyl radicals and DPPH radicals and with the increase of the extract concn.,namely,the increase of the content of flavonoid,the scavenging action of ethanol extracts on the 3 kinds of free radicals were gradually strengthened,showing the obvious dose effects,in which,the scavenging action of ethanol extracts on the hydroxyl radicals was the strongest and when the extract was at 15 mg/mL,the scavenging rate reached to 70%.[Conclusion] The ethanol extracts from C.praecox leaves had the antioxidation,so the C.praecox leaves could be used as the raw material of natural antioxidation.