Antioxidant Activities of Vietnamese Medicinal Plants

One hundred and twenty six Vietnamese traditional herbals belonging to 59 families were screened for their free radical (DPPH) scavenging activity and inhibitory effect on lipid peroxidation. Of these, MeOH extracts of seven plants, including Euphorbia thymifolia (leaf), Gnetum montanum (stem), Heterosmilax erythrantha (root), Morus alba (leaf), Syzygium formosum (leaf), Jussiaea repens (aerial parts), and Camellia sinensis (leaf), exhibited significant antioxidant activities. All of these herbs showed remarkable free radical scavenging activities with $IC_{50}$ values of 11.0, 14.5, 17.0, 13.6, 10.8, 7.7, and $8.5\;{\mu}g/ml$, respectively, and significant inhibitory effects on lipid peroxidation with 79.7, 83.8, 78.9, 82.5, 88.8, 88.0, and 96.2% inhibitions, respectively, at the concentration of $50\;{\mu}g/ml$.