Antioxidant activity of phenolic fractions of beach pea (Lathyrus maritimus L.)

Beach pea meal was extracted with 80% (v/v) aqueous ethanol for 20 min at 8 0C. The extract was fractionated on a Sephadex LH-20 column using methanol as eluate. Five major fractions were isolated according to their UV absorpt ion and relative content (%) of total phenolics. Antioxidant activity of th ese fractions was evaluated in a beta-carotene-linoleate model system. Frac tion II showed the best antioxidant effect by exhibiting the highest preven tive activity against the bleaching of beta-carotene. Further separation of this fraction on TLC indicated that it contained several compounds, includ ing phenolic acids and trihydroxy phenolics such as flavones and flavonols.