Investigation of three flavonoids binding to bovine serum albumin using molecular fluorescence technique

The three flavonoids including naringenin, hesperetin and apigenin binding to bovine serum albumin (BSA) at pH 7.4 was studied by fluorescence quenching, synchronous fluorescence and UV–vis absorption spectroscopic techniques. The results obtained revealed that naringenin, hesperetin and apigenin strongly quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA. The Stern–Volmer curves suggested that these quenching processes were all static quenching processes. At 291 K, the value and the order of the binding constant were KA (naringenin)=4.08×104