ORIGINAL PAPER Chemical composition and antioxidant capacity of the aqueous extract of Phellodendron amurense Natarajan Velmurugan 1,2 • Duraisamy Kalpana 1 • Jae Young Cho 3 • Yang Soo Lee 1 Received: 6 April 2016 / Accepted: 24 October 2016 Ó Northeast Forestry University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2017 Abstract The aqueous extract of Phellodendron amurense Rupr. (Amur Cork Tree) provides a rich source of antiox- idants and chemical compounds, and can be used for food and wood preservative materials. In this study, we char- acterized the chemical composition of this extract by GC and GC/MS. The antioxidant capacity was evaluated using a variety of antioxidant assays (superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide radical, and DPPH radical scavenging activity). Additionally, total polyphenolic content was determined. Phenolic acids and acetone derivatives were major compounds of the extract capable of scavenging the DPPH free radical and reducing ferric ions. DPPH and ferric ion reduction results were strongly correlated with total phenolic content of the extract which also exhibited strong nitric oxide, hydroxyl radical scav- enging and superoxide anion radical scavenging activities. Keywords Phellodendron amurense Á Aqueous extract Á Chemical characterization Á Antioxidant activity Introduction Wood, as a natural organic composite material, is widely used for construction material and home furnishings, but some types, for example, softwoods such as Alstonia, Picea, Carya, Pycnanthus, Grewia, and Pinus, are sus- ceptible to wood rotting fungi (Yen and Chang 2008; http:// www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/misc/holzart.htm), resulting in a reduction of mechanical strength due to the degradation of wood. In order to prevent fungal decay and insect attack, many methods have been employed such as the impreg- nation of the wood with biocide solutions and various modification methods (Barnes and Murphy 1995; Vetter et al. 2009). Different modification methods using non- biocidal, thermal, chemical or resin have gained substantial support as potential alternatives to biocide solutions (Vetter et al. 2009). Some of the chemical preservatives are envi- ronmentally hazardous and have been restricted for use in recent years (Hsu et al. 2009; Yen and Chang 2008). These include CCA (copper-chromiun-arsenate), creosote oil and polychlorophenols (Vahaoja et al. 2005; Schultz and Nicholas 2000a, b). Importantly, one widely used wood preservative, pentachlorophenol, is a major pollutant and extremely toxic to human health from acute (short-term) ingestion and inhalation exposure (Krogh and Tooke 1944; USEPA 1999). Neurological, blood and liver effects and eye irritations were due to acute inhalation of pen- tachlorophenol and subsequently its usage was restricted The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com. Corresponding editor: Yu Lei. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-017-0532-2) contains supple- mentary material, which is available to authorized users. & Natarajan Velmurugan velmmk@gmail.com & Yang Soo Lee ysoolee@jbnu.ac.kr 1 Department of Forestry, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea 2 Present Address: Branch Laboratory-Itanagar, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Naharlagun, Arunachal Pradesh 791 110, India 3 Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea 123 J. For. Res. DOI 10.1007/s11676-017-0532-2