Investigation of Shikonin Pigments and Antioxidant activity of the Roots from Lithospermum erythrorhizon according to the Different Growth Stages and Areas of Cultivation
This study was conducted to evaluate the quality variation of Lithospermum radix on the pigment contents and antioxidant activities according to different growth stages and areas of cultivation. Acetylshikonin contents showed the tendency to decrease gradually from the middle of July (0.28%) to the end of August (0.05%) and then the content was increased again to the end of October (0.25%). Shikonin content was detected as small amount of about 0.009% during the period. The weight of plants was increased from the end of September to the end of October and showed the highest value as 19.8 g on October 25. ROS scavenging activity was the highest in the early of October as IC50 value of 0.11 μg/mL. Lithospermum radix of September showed lower ROS scavenging activities than those of other growth stages as IC50 value of 1.02 and 0.49 μg/mL on September 9 and September 27, respectively. Among 17 areas cultivated Lithospermum radix, 10 areas (59%) showed 0.05-0.10% of acetylshikonin contents and 3 areas (18%) were measured to contain 0.16-0.26% of acetylshikonin.