A preliminary study on antioxidant ability of Antarctic lichen extract
南极地衣提取物抗氧化能力的初步研究

This paper deals with antioxidant ability of methanol extract from 4 Antarctic lichens, i.e. Usnea aurantiacoatra, Usnea antarctica, Sphaerophorus globosus and Cladonia sp. The antioxidant ability was detected by the linoleic acid, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and reducing power systems, and compared with that of commercial antioxidant Vitamin C and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). The results showed that the lichens collected from Antarctica exhibited high antioxidant activities, and the antioxidant activity was concentration-dependent. Among 4 lichens, Usnea aurantiacoatra had the maximum inhibitory ratio of lipid peroxidantion and reducing power, Cladonia sp. showed the maximum scavenging activity on DPPH free radical. Besides, usnic acid from Usnea aurantiacoatra also exhibited antioxidant activity, however, its activity was lower than that of the crude extract from Usnea aurantiacoatra.