Antioxidant compounds and activities of different organs of potted cymbidium spp. grown in Korea

Three cultivars of potted Cymbidium spp. (‘SP211', ‘ER827', and ‘FX750') harvested from Gongju in Chungnam of Korea were used for this study. The samples from these cultivars were separated into different organs (flower, leaf, and pseudobulb) and the antioxidant compounds and their activities were analyzed. The total flavonoids, phenolics, and antioxidant activities in these potted Cymbidium spp. cultivars were higher in the leaf extracts than flower and pseudobulb extracts. The total anthocyanin concentration in the flower extracts was significantly higher in ‘ER827' than ‘SP211' and ‘FX750' (p < 0.05). The total flavonoid concentration in leaf extracts was significantly higher than flower and pseudobulb extracts in all cultivars, especially ‘ER827' and ‘SP211' (p < 0.05). Among the flower extracts, the total flavonoid concentration in ‘ER827' was significantly higher than those measured in ‘SP211' and ‘FX750' (p < 0.05). The total phenolic concentration and total antioxidant activity show similar patterns to that of the flavonoid concentration, and the antioxidant concentrations in leaf extracts were significantly higher than those of other organs tested in all cultivars (p < 0.05). The total antioxidant activity in leaf extracts was measured using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method and were higher in leaf extracts than in other plant organs; however, there was no significant difference in the antioxidant activity among the cultivars. The total anthocyanin, total flavonoids, and total phenolics were highly correlated with antioxidant activity and the correlation between total anthocyanin and total flavonoid content were also strong (r = 0.826). Our results indicate that potted Cymbidium spp. produces active antioxidant compounds that could be a good source of bioactive compounds as functional food ingredients.