Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of beta-N-oxalyl-L-alpha, beta-diaminopropionic acid.

Exogenous hydroxyl radical treatments increased the levels of beta-N-oxalyl-L-alpha, beta-diaminopropionic acid (ODAP) in grass pea seedlings. Lipid peroxidation initiated by hydroxyl radicals can be alleviated when grass pea seedlings were pretreated with exogenous ODAP, suggesting that ODAP might act as an hydroxyl radical scavenger in vivo. Competing with salicylate for hydroxyl radicals in the hydroxyl radical generating/detecting system, ODAP's in vitro hydroxyl radicals scavenging activity was assessed to confirm this result, and the role of ODAP as an effective hydroxyl radical scavenger is discussed.