Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), the Best Antioxidant Functional Herbal Medicine

By Kyle J. Norton

Antioxidants are stable atoms that inhibit oxidation caused by free radicals.

Free radicals are highly reactive molecules with an unpaired electron on the outer ring of the atom.
Due to its nature to become stable, free radicals readily to donate or steal an electron from other molecules, leading to the chain of domino's effect that can not be stopped until either the electrons are paired or inhibited by antioxidants.

This chain of reaction is the cause of oxidative stress, a condition is associated with either overexpression of free radicals or depletion of antioxidant enzymes produced by the host organs.

Overexpression of free radicals is known to cause damage in contributing to the etiology of many chronic health problems such as cardiovascular and inflammatory disease, cataracts, and cancer.
Antioxidants, on the other hand, are stable molecules with a unique function in the inhibition of oxidation.

Believe it or not, free radicals also play a critical role in maintaining a certain body function. The Journal of Physiology showed that free radicals act as signal substances that cause the heart to beat with the correct force.

In healthy individuals, antioxidant enzymes produced by the liver are good enough to balance the free radical produced by the cell metabolism and external sources such as the air we breathe and the food we eat.

However, in people with a weakened immune system such as infants, children and the elderly, dietary sources from supplements, fruits and vegetables may be needed.

Dandelion is a herbaceous perennial plant, genus Taraxacum, belongings to the family Asteraceae, native to temperate regions of the world.

The herbal medicine has been used in traditional and herbal medicine to treat gout, eczema, acne, gall bladder, kidney, liver and urinary disorders, hypoglycemia, dyspepsia with constipation, edema, blood pressure, and heart weakness, chronic joint, skin diseases, etc.

On finding a natural ingredient for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, scientists examined in vitro and in vivo the antioxidant effects of 70% ethanol-water (v/v) leaf and root extracts of T. officinale (TOL and TOR, respectively).

The study included organ homogenate samples from Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)-induced hypertensive rats, treated by leaf extracts of TOL (500 mg/kg/day) and TOR (500 mg/kg/day) for 21 days.

Based on the results from the experiment, the antioxidant contents of ) polyphenol (4.35 ± 0.15 compared to 1.14 ± 0.01) and flavonoid (23.17 ± 0.14 compared to 3 ± 0.05) of TOL are significantly higher compared to TOR.

TOL exerted a significantly higher free radical scavenging activity (EC50 0.37 compared to 1.34 mg/mL) and total antioxidant capacities (82.56% compared to 61.54% ABTS, and 156 ± 5.28 compared to 40 ± 0.31 FRAP) compared to TOR.

Furthermore, both extracts inhibited the oxidative stress marker MDA levels and increased the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) without inducing toxicity with LD50 > 5000 mg/kg).

Collectively, T. officinale leaf extract possesses significant anti-oxidant effects that conferred significant in vivo antioxidant protection against free radical-mediated oxidative stress in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats.

Taken altogether, dandelion may be considered a remedy for enhancing the antioxidant capacity against oxidative stress, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) In Vitro and In Vivo Antioxidant Properties of Taraxacum officinale in Nω-Nitro-l-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME)-Induced Hypertensive Rats by Aremu OO1, Oyedeji AO2, Oyedeji OO3, Nkeh-Chungag BN4, Rusike CRS, (PubMed)