Evaluation of Pluchea carolinensis extracts as antioxidants by the epinephrine oxidation method.

Many methods have been used to evaluate synthetic and natural products as hydroxyl radical scavengers. In this study a spectrophotometric method to evaluate the scavenger activity of the hydroxyl radical produced in Fenton reaction is proposed. The oxidation of l-epinephrine to adrenochrome permitted the detection of the hydroxyl radical by spectrophotometry and its possible scavenging by hydroquinone, a well known antioxidant. The method was used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of Pluchea carolinensis leaves.