Chlorogenic acid, an antioxidant principle from the aerial parts of Artemisia iwayomogi that acts on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical

The antioxidant activity of Artemisia iwayomogi was determined by measuring the radical scavenging effect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. The methanol extract of A. iwayomogi showed strong antioxidant activity, and thus fractionated with several solvents, The antioxidant activity potential of the individual fraction was in the order of ethyl acetate > n-butanol > water > chloroform > n-hexane fraction. The ethyl acetate and n-butanol soluble fractions exhibiting strong antioxidant activity were further purified by repeated silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Antioxidant chlorogenic acid was isolated as one of the active principles from the n-butanol fraction, together with the inactive components, 1-octacosanol, scopoletin, scopolin, apigenin 7,4'-di-O-methylether, luteolin 6,3'-di-Omethylether (jaceosidin), apigenin 7-methylether (genkwanin), 2,4-dihydroxy-6-methoxyacetophenone 4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside and quebrachitol. The antioxidant activity of chlorogenic acid was comparable to that of L-ascorbic acid, which is a well known antioxidant.