Abstract: Stilbene compounds can protect foods from oxidation and inhibit tyrosinase activity. Using arbutin, vitamin C (VC) and vitamin E (VE) as the reference substances, the antioxidant activities and radical scavenging capacities of 3 kinds of stilbene compounds such as resveratrol, oxyresveratrol and mulberroside A from Cortex mori were investigated. The results showed that the six investigated antioxidant substances ranked in the following order: VC ＞ resveratrol ＞ oxyresveratrol ＞ VE ＞ arbutin ＞ mulberroside A in terms of their reducing power, VC ＞ VE ＞ oxyresveratrol ＞ resveratrol ＞ arbutin ＞ mulberroside A in terms of their DPPH radical scavenging capacity, and resveratrol ＞ oxyresveratrol ＞ arbutin ＞ mulberroside A ＞ VC ＞ VE in terms of their ABTS＋ · scavenging capacity. These results will promote their application in food additives.

Key words: Cortex mori, stilbene compounds, antioxidant activity, food additives