Abstract

Antioxidant and antimutagenic activities of plant extracts possess great potential as functional foods for cancer prevention. The aims of the current study were to evaluate antioxidant and antimutagenic activities and to study the chemical constituents of five Thai edible plant extracts. Antioxidant activity was expressed as the ability of each extract to scavenge the free radicals 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Antimutagenic activity was evaluated with the Ames test using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA 98, and TA 100. The results showed that Oroxylum indicum (Linn.) Kurg. and Tiliacora triandra Diels. extracts had high antioxidant activity with the EC₅₀ values at concentrations of 12.69 ± 1.02 and 14.51 ±  0.67 mg/ml, respectively, whereasBasella alba Linn. extract had the strongest antimutagenicity with both strains of S.typhimurium with percentage of inhibition values ranging from 54.06 ± 1.52 to 86.08 ± 2.78 %. In the present study, flavonoids and phenolic compounds from the herbal extracts are proposed to be antioxidant and antimutagenic agents, respectively. The apparent antioxidant and antimutagenic activities of Thai edible plants further suggests their potential usefulness in cancer prevention.

Key words: Phytochemical screening, antioxidant, antimutagenic.