Antioxidant Properties of Medicinal Plants from Peru

There is a wide diversity of plants and seasonal crops in Peru, due to the presence of many climatic zones. Numerous plants are used to cure or prevent diseases. These plants are promising candidates for functional foods products. The most frequent form in which they are used is an aqueous infusion or decoction. In this study, we compared the antioxidant properties of ten Peruvian plants infusions and investigated their relation to the phenolic content. The studied plants were: Uncaria tomentosa (cat’s claw), Lepidium meyenii (maca), Berberis vulgaris L. (barberry, agracejo), Phyllantus niruri (chanca piedra), Annona muricata L. (graviola, soursop), Gentianella alborosea (hercampure), Geranium dielsianum (pasuchaca), Tabebuia ochracea (tahuari), Notholaena nivea (“cuti cuti”) and Tiquilia paronychioides (“flor de arena”). Infusions of all studied plants have shown antioxidant activity, though there was a large diversity between the results. The antioxidant properties, determined with DPPH and ABTS scavenging assays as well as FRAP test, were strongly correlated with total phenolic content, while there was no correlation with the carotenoid content.