65
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T. J. Gutiérrez (ed.), Reactive and Functional Polymers Volume One,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43403-8_5
Chapter 5
Lignin as a Natural Antioxidant:
Property- Structure Relationship
and Potential Applications
Zhao Qin, Hua-Min Liu, Ling-Biao Gu, Run-Cang Sun, and Xue-De Wang
Abstract Lignin, as one of the most abundant natural polymer compounds in wood
and annual plants, has a complex chemical structure. It is fundamentally an aromatic polymer, composed of many aromatic rings with methoxyl and hydroxyl
functional groups. Because of its multifunctional side groups, lignin can act as a
free radical scavenger, thus acting as a natural antioxidant agent. However, extraction conditions, source species and structure affect the antioxidant activity of lignins. As a relatively safe and natural antioxidant, lignin can be used in foods,
pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and industrial materials. In this chapter, the correlation
of lignin between structural characteristics and its radical scavenging capabilities,
the relationship between antioxidant capacity and potential cytotoxicity, and the
advances in commercial applications of lignin as an antioxidant were reviewed and
analyzed.
Keywords Composite · Cytotoxicity · Modification · Structure-activity
relationship
Z. Qin · H.-M. Liu (*) · X.-D. Wang (*)
College of Food Science and Technology, Henan University of Technology,
Zhengzhou, China
e-mail: hmliu@haut.edu.cn
L.-B. Gu
School of Biological and Food Engineering, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang, China
R.-C. Sun
Center for Lignocellulose Science and Engineering, College of Light Industry and Chemical
Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian, China
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T. J. Gutiérrez (ed.), Reactive and Functional Polymers Volume One,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43403-8_5
Chapter 5
Lignin as a Natural Antioxidant:
Property- Structure Relationship
and Potential Applications
Zhao Qin, Hua-Min Liu, Ling-Biao Gu, Run-Cang Sun, and Xue-De Wang
Abstract Lignin, as one of the most abundant natural polymer compounds in wood
and annual plants, has a complex chemical structure. It is fundamentally an aromatic polymer, composed of many aromatic rings with methoxyl and hydroxyl
functional groups. Because of its multifunctional side groups, lignin can act as a
free radical scavenger, thus acting as a natural antioxidant agent. However, extraction conditions, source species and structure affect the antioxidant activity of lignins. As a relatively safe and natural antioxidant, lignin can be used in foods,
pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and industrial materials. In this chapter, the correlation
of lignin between structural characteristics and its radical scavenging capabilities,
the relationship between antioxidant capacity and potential cytotoxicity, and the
advances in commercial applications of lignin as an antioxidant were reviewed and
analyzed.
Keywords Composite · Cytotoxicity · Modification · Structure-activity
relationship
Z. Qin · H.-M. Liu (*) · X.-D. Wang (*)
College of Food Science and Technology, Henan University of Technology,
Zhengzhou, China
e-mail: hmliu@haut.edu.cn
L.-B. Gu
School of Biological and Food Engineering, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang, China
R.-C. Sun
Center for Lignocellulose Science and Engineering, College of Light Industry and Chemical
Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian, China