In Vitro Evaluation of Antioxidant Properties of Sugarcane Extracts Rich in Dietary Nucleotides

Food not only provides essential nutrients required for life, but also bioactive compounds useful to maintain good health and disease prevention. It’s a fairly new approach in nutracueticals that involves finding plant based natural sources, that are rich in nucleosides-nucleotides along with potent antioxidant properties. High intake of natural antioxidants has been associated with lower incidence of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart diseases. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate a multi-biofunctionality of the aqueous extracts of sugarcane (SE1, SE2 and SE3; rich uridine and uridine rich derivatives) for their antioxidant activity and high phenolic content. The assays involved different levels of antioxidant action such as DPPH (2, 2diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), ABTS (2, 2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline 6-sulfonate)), FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant potential), and ORAC (oxygen radical absorption capacity). It is interesting to note, that these extracts displayed antioxidant activity higher than 50% even at a low concentration. Results of the DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and ORAC assays indicate that all the three extracts examined showed significant antioxidant activities. Among these, SE3 extract seems to be the more effective antioxidant. The ORAC values are used as standard measures for comparing the antioxidant activity ranging from 602±3.71236±4.4 (μg TE/g). The high antioxidant activity of sugarcane extracts may be partly due to their total phenolic and flavonoid contents. In conclusion, this study reveals the ability of sugarcane extracts to scavenge free radicals, reduce iron complex and inhibit lipid peroxidation. It may explain possible mechanisms by which sugarcane extracts exhibits their beneficial effects in relation to its reported health benefits.