Hypochlorous acid scavenging activities of thioallyl compounds from garlic

The hypochlorous acid (HOCl) scavenging capacities of 10 garlic compounds containing modifications in the thioallyl group (-S-CH₂CH=CH ₂) were determined by a catalase protection assay, and the corresponding structure-activity relationships using molecular descriptors were calculated. This scavenging activity was enhanced by increasing the number of S atoms or by the alanyl group (-CH₂CH-NH₂-COOH) and decreased in the absence of the C=C bond or in the presence of a sulfoxide group in the thioallyl group. Interestingly, S-allylcysteine and its corresponding sulfoxide (alliin) showed the highest and lowest HOCl-scavenging capacities, respectively. Quantitative modeling by multiple regression analysis and partial least-squares projections showed that the topological descriptor polar surface area and two electronic properties, namely, highest occupied molecular orbital and total energy, contributed mainly to variations in the HOCl scavenging activity of thioallyl compounds. These observations provide new insights on the antioxidant mechanism of garlic derivatives in processes involving HOCl production.