Objective  Acer truncatum is a characteristic high-quality tree species with multi-purpose in China. A. truncatum seed coats are excellent renewable plant resources and good raw materials for human health and chemical industries owing to their abundant high-quality plant phenolic resources. This study aims to compare and systematically evaluate plant phenolic resources and antioxidant activities for A. truncatum seed coats collected from four producing areas of A. truncatum.

  Method  Using A. truncatum seed coats from Beijing, Horqin in Inner Mongolia of northern China, and Jining and Taian in Shandong Province of eastern China as test materials, contents of phenols, flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins and condensed tannins, and antioxidant activities for A. truncatum seed coats were evaluated by our improved phenol-antioxidant system based on 96-well plates.

  Result  Contents of phenols, flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins and condensed tannins in A. truncatum seed coats from Jining and Taian were significantly higher than those from Beijing and Horqin. Antioxidant activities of A. truncatum seed coats from Jining and Taian were significantly better than those from Beijing and Horqin. Comprehensive analysis showed that qualities for A. truncatum seed coats from Jining were superior to those from Taian.

  Conclusion  Phenolic resources and antioxidant activities of A. truncatum seed coats from Jining and Taian were better than those from Beijing and Horqin. Furthermore, qualities of A. truncatum seed coats from Jining were better than Taian. Our findings provide insights into the comprehensive utilization and resource mining of A. truncatum and its phenolic resources in China, and it is recommended that A. truncatum seed coats from Shandong Province should be further focused and studied.