Cyclitols are low molecular weight substances which accumulate in plant cells in response to various environmental stress situations, for example drought (Ford 1984), salinity (Gorham et al. 1984), low temperature (Richter et al. 1990).Apart from their more general role in osmotic adjustment, only in the case of salt stress is their mode of function well understood. Cyclitols (e.g. pinitol) accumulate when plants are exposed to increasing salt concentration (Paul & Cockburn 1989) and act as compatible solutes (Sommer et al. 1990) as defined by Brown & Simpson (1972).The significance of cyclitol accumulation in stress adaptation of plants to drought and cold still remains uncertain. However, it is generally accepted that drought and cold as well as several other stress situations lead to an enhanced generation of oxygen free radicals (Elstner 1990; Smirnoff & Colombe 1988), including the hydroxyl radical as the most harmful one. The report by Smirnoff & Cumbes (1989) that myo-inositol is an effective hydroxyl radical scavenger prompted us to test other naturally-occuring cyclitols like pinitol, quebrachitol, 1-D-1-O-methyl-muco-inositol, ononitol and quercitol for their ability to scavenge hydroxyl radicals.
Scavenging of hydroxyl radical by kinsenoside originated from anoectochilus roxburghii: A DFT approach
