Evaluation of the Antioxidant Activity of Two Turfgrass Species at Various Growth Stages.

Recent research by the authors has demonstrated the underutilized health benefitting potential possessed by amenity grasses as a function of their antioxidant concentrations. Extracts from particular grass species have been shown to have antioxidant activities up to 2x more than most blueberry cultivars.  This study evaluated the antioxidant activity of two turfgrass species at progressive growth stages.  Supina bluegrass [Poa supina Schrad. 'Supranova'] and bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. var. dactylon 'Sovereign'] were sampled at 22, 31, 38, 45 and 52 days of post-germination growth and extracted with 50% aqueous methanol.  Transformations in the phenolic profiles and antioxidant activities at the different growth stages were evaluated.  The oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay was used to determine the antioxidant activity of the grasses at their respective growth stages.  High-performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to observe changes in the phenolic profiles and colorimetric methods were used to quantify phenolic concentrations.  Discovering the most health benefitting phenolic profiles in amenity grasses will be necessary for future in vitro and pre clinical studies. As an outcome to this study, the phenolic profiles with elevated antioxidant activities can be determined to best combat human conditions such as cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.