Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Functional Plant Materials

Eleven functional plant materials were identified via a literature search, and their antioxidant capacity
and inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7
cells were tested. Yields from hot water extracts of the materials were the highest (52.10%) in Lycii
fructus, and the yields from Phellinus linteus were the lowest (5.7%). The yields of another were
14.50-42.47%. Total phenol and flavonoids contents were the highest in P. linteus. The EC50 values for
DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities were lower than 100 μg/ml for Salvia miltiorrhiza,
whereas the values for P. linteus, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Paeonia lactiflora were 100-200 μg/ml. The
EC50 value for the superoxide anion radical scavenging activity of all the extracts was higher than 300
μg/ml. P. linteus for the reducing power was shown the highest activity. Fe2+ chelating activity was
the highest in the Morus alba extract. In an MTT assay, the cell viability of the RAW264.7 LPS-exposed
cells was above 80% in extracts of 50 μg/ml and above 77% in extracts of 100 μg/ml in all the plant
materials except Acanthopanax sessiliflorum. NO production in the RAW264.7 LPS-exposed cells showed
a 12-fold increase compared to the control. The NO production level of all the extracts was 6.86-26.18
μM. Notably, 100 μg/ml of S. baicalensis extract showed a remarkable decrease in NO production
(72%) compared with the control. The potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of
S.baicalensis, P. linteus, S. miltiorrhiza, M. alba, and P. lactiflora suggest that they are potential candidates
as functional materials.

Key words : Antioxidant, functional plant materials, immune activity, NO production