Antioxidant activity of solvent extract from onion skin

The antioxidant activity of the solvent fractions extracted from onion skin was examined. The antioxidant activity of methanol extract at the cencentration of 0.02% and 0.03% was stronger than that of mixed tocopherol. The antioxidant activity of the fractions of methanol extract increased in the order of butanol> ethyl acetate> ethyl ether> water fraction. The antioxidant activity of each fractions was strongly related with total phenol content and HDA. Further separation of butanol fraction by TLC yielded 6 fluorescent bands with Rf values of 0.20, 0.33, 0.49, 0.60 and 0.94. The total phenol content and HDA of fluorescent band, Rf 0.96, were remarkable higher than those of the other band and exhibited a strong UV absorption at 255 nm and 317 nm, which would be specifically produced by flavonol. Spectral analyses indicated that the major antioxidant component was quercetin aglycone (3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone).