Nutr Res Pract.  2014 Apr;8(2):151-157.

In vitro biological evaluation of 100 selected methanol extracts from the traditional medicinal plants of Asia

• Li C
• Wang MH

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
In Asia, various medicinal plants have been used as the primary sources in the health care regimen for thousands of years. In recent decades, various studies have investigated the biological activity and potential medicinal value of the medicinal plants. In this study, 100 methanol extracts from 98 plant species were evaluated for their biological activities.
MATERIALS/METHODS
The research properties, including 1,1-diphenyl-2-pic-rylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, alpha-glucosidase and alpha-tyrosinase inhibitory effects, anti-inflammatory activity, and anticancer activity were evaluated for the selected extracts.
RESULTS
Fifteen of the extracts scavenged more than 90% of the DPPH radical. Among the extracts, approximately 20 extracts showed a strong inhibitory effect on alpha-glucosidase, while most had no effect on alpha-tyrosinase. In addition, 52% of the extracts showed low toxicity to normal cells, and parts of the extracts exhibited high anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities on the murine macrophage cell (RAW 264.7) and human colon cancer cell (HT-29) lines, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings may contribute to further nutrition and pharmacological studies. Detailed investigations of the outstanding samples are currently underway.

Keyword

Medicinal plants; antioxidant; anti-alpha-glucosidase; anti-inflammatory; anticancer

MeSH Terms

alpha-Glucosidases
Asia*
Colonic Neoplasms
Delivery of Health Care
Humans
Macrophages
Methanol*
Plants
Plants, Medicinal*
Methanol
alpha-Glucosidases

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