Antioxidative activity in the pericarp and seed of Japanese pepper (Xanthoxylum piperitum DC)

The antioxidative activity of the dried pericarp and seed of Japanese pepper was studied. The ethyl acetate extract from the pericarp and the methanol extract from the seed showed strong antioxidative activity against linoleic acid by the ferric thiocyanate and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) methods. Japanese pepper contained 3.9 and 2.9 mg/100 g of dry weight (dw) of tocopherols in the pericarp and seed, respectively, alpha-Toc in the former constituting 82% of total tocopherol and gamma-Toc in the latter constituting 96%. Arbutin and magnoflorine were isolated as antioxidants and their chemical structures determined by instrumental analyses. The contents of arbutin evaluated as the trifluoroacetate derivative by GC-MS were 35 and 3.0 mg/100 g of dw in the pericarp and seed, respectively. Magnoflorine was present only in the seed, and not in the pericarp. Both arbutin and magnoflorine exhibited antioxidative activity against linoleic acid and radical-scavenging activity against the DPPH radical.