New Active Organic Substance in Oyster Shell Capable of Scavenging Oxygen Free Radicals with High Efficiency

A light purple organic active substance capable of scavenging hydroxyl radical(•OH) with a high efficiency was extracted from Oyster shell at an extraction rate of 2.49%. It was found for the first time that this active substance may scavenge •OH with the efficiency far higher than that of vitamin C. This active substance may scavenge also superoxide radical(O2−•) although the scavenging efficiency is far lower than that of vitamin C. Infrared spectrometry and routine chemical analysis primarily reveal that this active substance belongs to glycoprotein.