Quantitative Structure-activity Relationship Study on the Antioxidant Activity of Carotenoids

Carotenoids are a family of effective active oxygen scavengers, which can reduce the danger of occurrence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cataract, cancer, and so on. The quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) equation between carotenoids and antioxidant activity was established by quantum chemistry AM1, molecular mechanism (MM+) and stepwise regression analysis methods, and the model was evaluated by leave-one-out approach. The results showed that the significant molecular descriptors related to the antioxidant activity of carotenoids were the energy difference (EHL) between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and ionization energy (Eiso). The model showed a good predictive ability (Q2 > 0.5).