Antioxidant activity in sugarcane juice and its protective role against radiation induced DNA damage

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.07.066

Food Chemistry

Volume 106, Issue 3, 1 February 2008, Pages 1154-1160

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.07.066 Get rights and content

Abstract

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) juice is widely consumed by people of the tropics and subtropics. It has been used to cure jaundice and liver-related disorders in Indian systems of medicine. Its possible mechanism of action was examined in terms of antioxidant availability. The assays involved different levels of antioxidant action such as oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), radical scavenging abilities using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH); 2,2′-azobis-3-ethyl benzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS); ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP); and protection of membranes examined by inhibition of lipid peroxidation. In addition, the content of phenols and total flavonoids were measured. The aqueous extracts of three varieties of sugarcane were studied. These varieties showed good antioxidant properties and were also able to protect against radiation induced DNA damage in pBR322 plasmid DNA and Escherishia coli cultures. In conclusion, the study reveals that the ability of sugarcane juice to scavenge free radicals, reduce iron complex and inhibit lipid peroxidation, may explain possible mechanisms by which sugarcane juice exhibits its beneficial effects in relation to its reported health benefits.

Introduction

Sugarcane, popularly known as noble cane, due to its high sucrose content and low fiber content is one of the important industrial crops of the world. It is principal raw material for the sugar industry as 70% of the world’s sugar comes from sugarcane. Besides sugar production, large number of population in the tropics and subtropics relishes its juice, and consume raw cane. In the Indian system of medicine, chewing raw sugarcane is recommended for sound and healthy body. Both the roots and stems of sugarcane are used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat skin and urinary tract infections, as well as for bronchitis, heart conditions, loss of milk production, cough, anaemia, constipation as well as general debility. Some texts advise its use for jaundice and low blood pressure.

With the development of nuclear sciences and its use for human welfare, the protection of research personnel and people living in proximity of nuclear facilities has emerged as a crucial issue in the field of radiation biology. Antioxidants are known for their ability to scavenge the free radicals and protect living beings from oxidative damage (Sies, 1996). Plants as well as animals are continuously exposed to free radicals. Free radicals are highly unstable and reactive molecules and present a formidable challenge to all living systems (Halliwell & Gutteridge, 1997). If left unchecked, they can cause oxidative injury by initiating chain reactions that disrupt membranes, denature proteins, fragment DNA and ultimately participate in cell death, ageing and cancer (Ames, Gold, & Willet, 1995).

Sugarcane juice has been used in the Ayurveda and Unani systems of medicine in India, since time immemorial. Sugarcane extract has displayed a wide range of biological effects including immunostimulation (El-Abasy et al., 2002), anti-thrombosis activity, anti-inflammatory activity, vaccine adjuvant, modulation of acetylcholine release (Barocci et al., 1999) and anti-stress effects. Sugarcane juice has broad biological effects in raising innate immunity to infections (Lo et al., 2005). The present study reports that sugarcane juice has potent antioxidant activity under various experimental conditions.

Section snippets

Materials

Ascorbic acid, aluminium chloride, 2,2′-azobis-3-ethylbenthiaazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) diammonium salt, β-phycoerythrin, 1,1′-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA), ferric chloride, Folin–Ciocalteu reagent, hydrogen peroxide, methylene blue, myoglobin, potassium ferricynide, potassium phosphate (monobasic and dibasic), sodium carbonate, α-tocopherol, trolox (6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid), 1,1,3,3-tetraethoxypropane,

Antioxidant properties of sugarcane cultivars

Table 1 gives total antioxidant potential (TEAC) of sugarcane juice of the three varieties tested. Among these DSEM Co.C-671 had highest phenolic as well as flavonoid contents. However, all three varieties performed very similar in ORAC assay in 1% juice concentration while Co.C-86032 showed 27.5% higher ORAC assay value at 5% juice concentration even though its phenolics and flavonoids contents were only 60.5% and 49.8%, respectively, to that of DSEM Co.C-671. When the ferric reduction

Discussion

Sugarcane juice is considered a healthy and nutritious drink in the tropics and subtropics. Patients suffering from jaundice and liver-related disorders are encouraged to consume sugarcane juice in the traditional system of medicine. The sugarcane juice positively regulates host natural immunity against viral, bacterial and protozoan infections (El-Abasy et al., 2003, El-Abasy et al., 2002), effects on the levels of macrophages, neutrophils and natural killer cells (Lo et al., 2005). Byproducts

Acknowledgements

Authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. Vikas Patade for providing authentic sugarcane plant material for experiments. Authors also gratefully thank Ms. Laxmi HS Nagi for her kind help.

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Citation Excerpt :
Among these assays, ORAC assay is the standard method employed for quantifying and comparing antioxidant capacity of various foods. According to a recent study, sugarcane juice demonstrated an ORAC value ranging from 16.3 to 23.6 μmol Trolox equivalent/mL juice (Kadam et al., 2008). To put this into perspective, sugarcane juice ranks above other well-known antioxidants since it has a similar or higher ORAC values than those reported for other nutraceuticals i.e., red grape (12.6 μmol TE/mL), green grape (11.18 μmol TE/mL), mango (10.2 μmol TE/mL), garlic (19.4 μmol TE/g, fresh wt) and spinach (12.6 μmol TE/g, fresh wt) (Lachnicht et al., 2002; Wu et al., 2004).
Saccharum officinarum L., commonly known as sugarcane, is one of the most widely cultivated crops worldwide. In addition to its global value as the main source of sucrose, sugarcane possesses a variety of bioactivities owing to its myriad constituents. Despite the reported health benefits of sugarcane, phytochemical studies in sugarcane are scarce and its bioactive compounds have still not been adequately exploited. This review presents an updated knowledge of the potential bioactivities of sugarcane and its by-products in relation to its phytochemical profiles. We present a thorough understanding of the pharmacological activities of sugarcane and its by-products with a future prospective for maximizing their benefits as valuable medicinal products, in addition to opening new venues in the field of sugarcane industry. Various techniques used for sugarcane juice preservation as major product to maintain its bioactive compounds and stability are presented which in turn could enhance its introduction to a wider market.

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Antioxidant activity in sugarcane juice and its protective role against radiation induced DNA damage

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Materials

Antioxidant properties of sugarcane cultivars

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta

Analytical Biochemistry

Nutrition Research

Progress in Lipid Research

Mechanisms of Ageing and Development

Food and Chemical Toxicology

Antioxidant activity of some edible Yemeni plants evaluated by ferrylmyglobin/ABTS assay

Food Science and Technology Research

The causes and prevention of cancer

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Phenolic constituents and antioxident activity of an extract of Anthurium versicolor leaves

Journal of Natural Products

Effects if some extracts on the acetyl-choline release at the mouse neuromuscular joint

Pharmacological Research

The ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) measure of “antioxidant power”: The FRAP assay

Annals of Biochemistry

New careers for antioxidants

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Measurement of oxygen radical absorbance capacity in biological samples

Methods in Enzymology