Antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of methanol extracts from aerial parts of Korean salad plants

The aim of this investigation was to determine the content of total phenolics, antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of methanol extracts from the aerial parts of 11 Korean medicinal salad plants. The highest total phenolic content of the methanol extracts was found in Aster scaber (17.1 mg 100 g(-1)), followed by Ixeris dentate (16.4 mg 100 g(-1)), Aster yomena (12.0 mg 100 g(-1)) and Sedum sarmentosum (9.1 mg 100 g(-1)) of FW. Methanol extracts of Ixeris dentate and Aster scaber at 50 mu g mL(-1) exhibited the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity by 86.4 and 83.3%, respectively. It was registered a dose-dependent increase of DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Total phenolic content of the studied plant extracts was correlated with the DPPH radical scavenging activity. It was found by means of MTT assay, that cytotoxicity of the methanol extracts was the highest against HCT-116. Methanol extracts from Petasites japonicus (IC50 < 25.0 mu g mL(-1)) showed the highest activity against HCT-116, following by Angelica gigas (34.75 mu g mL(-1)), Erythronium japonicum (44.06 mu g mL(-1)), and Aster scaber (54.87 mu g mL(-1)). In conclusion, the studied salad plants have high total phenolics content and high antioxidant activity. These plants dose-dependently increased DPPH free radical scavenging activity. The total phenolics level was highly correlated with the free radical scavenging activity. Most of the studied salad plants have potent cytotoxicity activity. The results of this investigation suggest that the extracts of studied salad plants could be an addition to basic medicine for some diseases.