Table 3.

Comparison of mean ORAC values for the different characters with which the herb may be classified based on TCM; errors are presented as SD

Medicinal characteristics			Number of herbs in group	max	min	mean
				µmol TE/g	µmol TE/g	µmol TE/g
Flavor†	bitter and/or sour	yin	15	1940	96	856 ± 550*
	bitter with sweet and pungent	yin within yang and yang within yin	17	1990	43	528 ± 558
	sour with sweet and pungent
	pungent and/or sweet	yang	12	640	40	213 ± 198*
Nature	cold and cool	yin	18	1940	54	559 ± 504
	hot and warm	yang	19	1990	40	558 ± 567
	neutral		8	1440	43	443 ± 540
Function	stop internal and external bleeding		15	1940	75	722 ± 568
	promote blood circulation and disperse blood stasis		19	1990	43	537 ± 584
	nourishing the blood		5	790	40	267 ± 284
	dispelling pathogenic heat from the blood systems		6	680	65	313 ± 215

^†The flavor of Arnebia euchroma is sweet and salty; it is not included in the list.

*The mean ORAC value for bitter, sour flavor is significantly different from sweet, pungent flavor. (P < 0.01), Student's t-test.