A Physicochemical Study of the Antioxidant Activity of Corn Silk Extracts

Corn silk (CS) extracts are reported to contain flavonoids (appx. 59.65 mg quercetin/g), polysaccharides (appx. 58.75 w.%), steroids (appx. 38.3 × 10−3 to 368.9 × 10−3 mg/mL), polyphenols (appx. 77.89 mg/GAE/g) and other functional biological substances. This study investigated the antioxidant activity of corn silk extracts related to their functional compounds. The radical scavenging effect of corn silk extracts was evaluated by the spin-trapping electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS•+) free radical measurement, ferric ion-reducing antioxidant power, and copper ion reductive capacity. It was found that the maturity stage of CS plant materials and the applied extraction procedure of their bioactive compounds have a profound effect on the radical scavenging capacity. Differences in the antioxidant activity of the studied corn silk samples based on their maturity were also confirmed. The strongest DPPH radical scavenging effect was observed for the corn silk mature stage (CS-M)stage (CS-MS) (65.20 ± 0.90)%, followed by the silky stage (CS-S) (59.33 ± 0.61)% and the milky stage (CS-M) (59.20 ± 0.92)%, respectively. In general, the final maturity stage (CS-MS) provided the most potent antioxidant effect, followed by the earliest maturity stage (CS-S) and the second maturity stage (CS-M).