Antioxidant ofsmallmolecular weightchitosan oligosaccharidein vitro

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in finding natural antioxidants, since they can protect the human body from free radicals and retard the progress of many chronic diseases. This study is to evaluate antioxidant of a certain molecular chitosan oligosaccharide (Mw 1000 Da, COST) in vitro. The antioxidant activities of COST were investigated in vitro by several antioxidant assays, including DPPH radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, superoxide radical scavenging, reducing power and metal chelating activities.In vitro studies found that COST had noticeable scavenging activities on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical, hydroxyl radical, and superoxide anion, and possessed reducing power and metal chelating activities, and its capability of anti-oxidation enhance with the increase of concentration.COST presents anexcellent biological rolein scavenging free radical, which could be explored as a potential antioxidant or dietary supplement to retard diseases caused by peroxide.