Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Characterization and DPPH Radical Scavenging Activity of Gallic Acid-Lecithin Complex

Changzhong Liu¹, Chungang Chen², Haizhen Mo², Hanjun Ma², Erdong Yuan³, Qiong Li⁴

¹School of Animal Science; ²School of Food Science, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang 453003; ³College of Light Industry and Food Sciences; ⁴School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.

For correspondence:- Qiong Li Email: qiongli@scut.edu.cn

Received: 17 May 2014 Accepted: 18 July 2014 Published: 18 August 2014

Citation: Liu C, Chen C, Mo H, Ma H, Yuan E, Li Q. Characterization and DPPH Radical Scavenging Activity of Gallic Acid-Lecithin Complex. Trop J Pharm Res 2014; 13(8):1333-1338 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v13i8.19

© 2014 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the physicochemical properties and DPPH radical scavenging activity of gallic acid–lecithin complex.

Methods: The complex of gallic acid with lecithin was prepared by solvent method. The physicochemical properties of the complex were investigated by ultraviolet-visible spectrometry (UV), infrared spectrometry (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and x-ray diffractometry (XRD). Antioxidant activity was examined by 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay.

Results: The UV and IR spectra of the complex showed an additive effect of gallic acid and lecithin, in which the characteristic absorption peaks of gallic acid and lecithin were retained. SEM suggests that gallic acid was dispersed into lecithin while DSC and XRD results for the complex mainly showed the presence of lecithin with the characteristic peaks for gallic acid absent. At all concentrations of the complex (0.2 - 1.0 mg/mL), the DPPH radical scavenging activity of the complex was higher than that of the reference antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT).

Conclusion: Gallic acid and lecithin in the complex are combined by a non-covalent bond, and did not form a new compound. The complex is an effective scavenger of DPPH radicals.

Keywords: Gallic acid, Lecithin, Complex, Antioxidant