Evaluation of the potential of chicoric acid as a natural food antioxidant.

Dietary fat is important for human health, while its excessive consumption or the oxidation of lipids may cause various diseases. In the present study, the potential of chicoric acid (CA) as a natural food antioxidant was evaluated. To evaluate this, spectrophotometry analysis measured CA antioxidant activity, the analytical method of the sanitary standard of edible lard and rapeseed oil measured CA anti-oil oxidation, the Oxford cup method measured CA anti-microbial activity, Oil red O staining assessed intracellular triglycerides following CA administration, and RT-qPCR analysis and ELISA assessed CA anti-inflammatory activity. The results indicated that CA had a marked scavenging capacity for the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical, as well as a reductive action, and after incubation for 5 days, 0.05% CA achieved a significantly higher peroxide value than 0.02% tert-butylhydroquinone used as a reference (P<0.05). In addition, 160 nM CA inhibited the growth of a variety of common pathogenic microbes in humans, significantly inhibited fat droplet formation (P<0.05) and reduced the production of interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). Therefore, functional foods containing CA may be used as natural antioxidant supplements to prevent the oxidation of oil and protect human health.