Polyphenol and Flavonoids Content and Antioxidant Activity of Different Solvent Extracts from Artemisia argyi

The effects of extraction solvents (methanol, ethanol, acetone, petroleum ether and n-hexane) on the content of total polyphenols and flavonoids, as well as antioxidant activities of Artemisia argyi were investigated. The results showed that, the ethanol extract had the highest total polyphenols and flavonoids content, and it exhibited stronger antioxidant activities, followed by methanol and acetone extracts. Correlation analysis revealed that the content of phytochemicals was well correlated with antioxidant activities of extracts from Artemisia argyi, which indicates that different solvents had a great influence on the level of total polyphenols, flavonoids and antioxidant activities of extracts. Therefore, selective extraction from Artemisia argyi, by an appropriate solvent, is important for obtaining fractions with high antioxidant activity, which will be useful for the developing and application of Artemisia argyi.