THE ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF FLAVONOIDS ISOLATED FROM CORYLUS-COLURNA

A natural mixture of flavonoids (F4) was isolated from Corylus colurna leaves. In this study the antioxidant and the free radical scavenging activities of this mixture have been investigated. It was found that F4 had a strong antioxidant activity comparable to that of quercetin a nd myricetin and higher than that of rutin. F4 is a potent superoxide radical scavenger, more efficient than quercetin and myricetin or thei r mixture. F4 is also a strong inhibitor of ischaemia/reperfusion-indu ced peroxidation in the brain and liver. In addition to these advantag es F4 had low toxicity and can be readily isolated. All these advantag es make it an alternative to the more toxic synthetic antioxidants for the treatment of pathological conditions in which free radicals are i nvolved.