Antioxidant Mechanism of Black Garlic Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

Black garlic possesses antioxidant effects, however, its specific antioxidant mechanism remains elusive. The present study investigates the antioxidant mechanism of black garlic using network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. By reviewing literature and collecting the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform database, a total of 67 black garlic active ingredients and 583 potential target proteins were obtained. Taking the intersection with oxidative stress targets resulted in 357 intersection targets. After network pharmacology analysis, the core active ingredients apigenin, ferulic acid, palmitic acid, quercetin and caffeic acid were identified. The core targets are KIT, KDR and ERBB2. The core pathway is the PI3K/Akt pathway. Molecular docking results showed that KIT and ERBB2 have relatively high docking scores, and all three targets have the best binding effects with quercetin, indicating that active ingredients in black garlic such as quercetin may mainly act on targets like KIT, KDR and ERBB2 to exert antioxidant effects. Collectively, the study indicates that black garlic have good antioxidant effects at a theoretical level, providing theoretical basis for the development of functional products of black garlic.