Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Antioxidant activity and correlation analysis of phenolic compounds in novel varieties of Lactuca sativa L.

Hyeon Jun Moon¹, Yu Jin Kwak¹, Seo Woo Jang², Soon-Ho Yim¹

¹Department of Pharmaceutical-cosmetic, Dongshin University; ²Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research & Extension Services, Naju, Jeonnam, Korea.

For correspondence:- Soon-Ho Yim Email: virshyim@gamil.com Tel:+82-61-330-3275

Received: 22 February 2025 Accepted: 20 May 2025 Published: 31 May 2025

Citation: Moon HJ, Kwak YJ, Jang SW, Yim S. Antioxidant activity and correlation analysis of phenolic compounds in novel varieties of Lactuca sativa L.. Trop J Pharm Res 2025; 24(5):575-582 doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v24i5.1

© 2025 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the antioxidant efficacy of three lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. Asteraceae) varieties: Cheongchima JLS201206-12 (a traditional variety), and two newly bred varieties, Cheongharang I and Cheongharang II.

Method: Extraction was done with 100 mL of water and ethanol at various concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 %) using a reflux extractor at 100 °C for 60 min. Total polyphenol content (TPC) and total flavonoid contents (TFC) were determined. Antioxidant activity of the lettuce extracts was evaluated in vitro using DPPH, ABTS, PMA, and FRAP assays with ascorbic acid and trolox as positive controls at 5 and 800 μg/mL, respectively.

Results: At 60 % ethanol, Cheongchima I also showed significantly higher phenolic (14.33 ± 0.00 mg GAE/g) and flavonoid (16.81 ± 0.00 mg CE/g) contents compared to Cheongchima, Cheongharang II, and the standard controls (p < 0.05). Furthermore, Cheongharang I exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity compared to the traditional variety Cheongchima in DPPH, ABTS, PMA, and FRAP assays (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Aqueous and ethanol extracts of Cheongharang ? demonstrate significantly higher antioxidant effects than other varieties, suggesting its strong potential as a natural source of antioxidants used in functional foods

Keywords: Lactuca sativa L. Antioxidants, FRAP assay, DPPH assay, Correlation analysis