Antioxidant properties of pyroligneous acid obtained by thermochemical conversion of Schisandra chinensis Baill.

Sustainable development of renewable resources is a major challenge globally. Biomass is an important renewable energy source and an alternative to fossil fuels. Pyrolysis of biomass is a promising method for simultaneous production of biochar, bio-oil, pyroligneous acid (PA), and gaseous fuels. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pyrolysis process and products yields of Schisandra chinensis fruits with different pyrolysis powers. The obtained PA was extracted with organic solvents, including ethyl formate, dichloromethane, methanol and tetrahydrofuran. The antioxidant activities, including the free radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing power, of the PA extracts were investigated. The synthetic antioxidants butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene were used as positive controls. A dichloromethane extract of PA showed excellent antioxidant properties compared to the other extracts. The chemical compositions of the PA extracts were determined by GC-MS, and further proved that the dichloromethane extract had the best antioxidant characteristics among the extracts tested.