The use of camellias as potential antioxidant agents
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The genus Camellia presents a wide geographic distribution in which three species can be
highlighted: Camellia japonica for ornamental purposes, Camellia oleifera for essential oil
production, and Camellia sinensis for tea production. Among them, C. japonica is characterized by its associated high socioeconomic impact in Galicia (NW Spain) due to its abundance in gardens, since, to date, its use continues to be almost exclusively ornamental. However, different chemical characterizations carried out on Camellia genus have indicated a similar composition among different species, so it would be expected that C. japonica could be used for additional purposes [1]. These applications will be determined by the chemical composition of the part used, which in turn will be influenced by the variety of camellia and environmental factors (growing area, climate, soil). One of the parts of greatest interest are the flowers since it has been shown that the petals of C. japonica have a high content of phenolic compounds that make them potential sources of bioactive compounds for medicinal and cosmetic use [2]. In this work, a standard extraction (maceration) was carried out using a methanol: water mixture (60:40) as
solvent to evaluate the bioactivity of the flowers of different varieties of C. japonica. Among the 8 varieties analyzed, two of them (Elegans variegated and Grandiflora Superba) were
characterized by having a high antioxidant capacity, as observed in terms of
2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity of 136.5 and 86.8 μg/mL
respectively. Overall, it can be concluded that camellias are a potential source of antioxidants with application in food and nutraceutical industries.
