Survey of Antioxidant Properties of Barberry: A Chemical and Chemometric Approach

Berberis vulgaris (barberry) is a plant belonging to the Berberidaceae family and its medicinal properties have been known since ancient times. In this study, we have evaluated the antioxidant activity of fruit, leaves, root bark, and branch bark extracts of B. vulgaris, depending on the habitat and maturity by five methods: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity; 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) cation decolorization activity; total reducing power; cupric ion reducing antioxidant power; and the ferric ion reducing antioxidant power. Also, we determined the total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Of the analyzed extracts, the highest phenolic and flavonoid content was found in the extract of the fruit, 494 +/- 2 mu g GAE/mg dry extract weight and 2170 +/- 4 mu g RE/mg dry extract weight, respectively. Depending on the method used for the assay, the plant extracts show different antioxidant capacities but there is a certain pattern. All of the antioxidant assays have indicated the high antioxidant activity of B. vulgaris extracts. The extract of fruit stood out with the highest antioxidant activity while the bark of the roots of wild plants had the lowest activity. The study enhanced using chemometric analysis and cluster analysis was used to investigate the similarities between analyzed extracts.