Biophenols and antioxidant activity in wild and cultivated heather.

Over the last decade, there has been an increasing interest to study the antioxidants from natural sources which can be applied to replace the synthetic compounds commonly used in food or as cosmetic ingredients. Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull (heather), a plant grown in most parts of Europe and Northern America, has been used in ethnopharmacology. The content of selected biophenols and the antioxidant capacity of the extracts of wild heather collected from natural environmental localities of central Poland were assessed in this study and compared with cultivated plant. Chlorogenic acid was the major biophenolic compound present in the extracts, followed by a high amount of catechins. The reducing power of the extracts evaluated by Folin-Ciocalteau assay was in the range of 75.7-89.1 mg GA/g dry flowers. The cultivated plant extract showed the largest radical scavenging on 1,1-diphenyl-2-pirylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals.