Abstract
Premna ligustroides Hemsl. is a traditional plant food material, but the chemical components, functional ingredients of the leaves and its antioxidant activity of ethanol extracts had never been studied. In this study, the moisture, ash, crude fiber, crude fatty, pectin, and amino acid were 8.95 ± 0.01, 7.76 ± 0.06, 7.86 ± 0.10, 12.93 ± 0.05, 19.21 ± 0.02, and 15.26 ± 0.16 g/100 g dry basis, respectively. Total flavonoids content of leaves was 74.35 ± 0.49 mg/g. Degree of esterification (DE) of the pectin was 66.67 ± 1.02%, and the unsaturated fatty acids occupied 64.71% of the total fatty acids, 17 amino acids which contained seven essential amino acids were detected. Fifty eight volatile compounds were separated and identified. The extracted flavonoids had higher reducing power than ascorbic acid at the same concentration, and had significant scavenging abilities on hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anion radical, and DPPH radical. The results indicated that the leaves of P. ligustroides Hemsl. as a kind of botanical food has a great value of development and utilization.
