Antioxidant Activities of Various Solvent Extracts from Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) Leaves

Water, methanol and ethanol extracts of ginseng leaves were assayed for total phenolics and flavonoids, ascorbic acid, cupric and ferrous ion chelating activities, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and ABTS radical cation decolourization (TEAC) assay for their antioxidant properties. The ethanol extract of ginseng leaves contained significantly (p＜0.05) higher amounts of total phenolics and flavonoids (600.57 and 1701 ㎎/100 g) than methanol (374.43 and 1512.64 ㎎/100 g) and water extracts (248.30 and 680.05 ㎎/100 g). Among solvent extracts of ginseng leaves, the ethanol extract showed the most powerful antioxidant activities. However, the ferrous ion chelating activity of ginseng leaf extracts were lower than the cupric ion chelating ability. These differences in concentrations of key antioxidants among various solvent extracts seemed to be responsible for their differences in antioxidant activities. These results suggest that ethanol extract of ginseng leaves has the most effective antioxidant capacity compared to the methanol and water extracts tested in the present study. Thus, it can be applied for the effective extraction of functional material from ginseng leaves for the usage of pharmaceutical and/or food industries.