Garcinia parvifolia belongs to the same family as mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), which is known locally in Sabah as "asam kandis" or cherry mangosteen. The present study was conducted to determine the phytochemicals content (total phenolic, flavonoid, anthocyanin, and carotenoid content) and antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase inhibition activity of the flesh and peel of G. parvifolia. All samples were freeze-dried and extracted using 80% methanol and distilled water. For the 80% methanol extract, the flesh of G. parvifolia displayed higher phenolic and flavonoid contents than the peel, with values of 7.2 ± 0.3 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g and 5.9 ± 0.1 mg rutin equivalent (RU)/g, respectively. Anthocyanins were detected in the peel part of G. parvifolia but absent in the flesh. The peel of G. parvifolia displayed higher total carotenoid content as compared to the flesh part with the values of 17.0 ± 0.3 and 3.0 ± 0.0 mg β-carotene equivalents (BC)/100 g, respectively. The free-radical scavenging, ferric reducing, and acetylcholinesterase inhibition effect of the flesh were higher as compared to the peel in both extracts. These findings suggested that the edible part of G. parvifolia fruit has a potential as a natural source of antioxidant and anti-Alzheimer's agents.
In the annals of biomedical theory perhaps no single class of natural product has enjoyed more ingenious speculation than antioxidants formally aimed at counteracting oxidative insults which are involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, skin ageing and wound healing. In pursuing our study of Malaysian traditional medicines with antioxidant properties, we became interested in Acalypha wilkesiana var. macafeana hort., used traditionally to heal wounds. To examine whether Acalypha wilkesiana var. macafeana hort. could suppress oxidation an ethanol extract was tested by conventional chemical in vitro assays i.e., ferric reducing antioxidant potential assay (FRAP), DPPH scavenging assay and beta-carotene bleaching (BCB) assay. To explore whether Acalypha wilkesiana var. macafeana hort. protected cells against oxidative injuries, we exposed human hepatocellular liver carcinoma (HepG2) cells to tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP). In all the aforementioned experiments, the ethanol extracts elicited potent antioxidant and cytoprotective activities. To gain a better understanding of the phytochemical nature of the antioxidant principle involved, five fractions (F1-F5) obtained from the ethanol extract were tested using FRAP, DPPH and BCB assays. Our results provided evidence that F5 was the most active fraction with antioxidant potentials equal to 2.090 +/- 0.307 microg/mL, 0.532 +/- 0.041 microg/mL, 0.032 +/- 0.025 microg/mL in FRAP, DPPH and BCB assay, respectively. Interestingly, F5 protected HepG2 against t-BHP oxidative insults. To further define the chemical identity of the antioxidant principle, we first performed a series of phytochemical tests, followed by liquid-chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC/MS) profiling which showed that the major compound contained in F5 was geraniin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing that the wound healing property of Acalypha wilkesiana var. macafeana hort. is mediated by a geraniin containing extract. Furthermore, our data leads us to conclude that geraniin could be used as a potential pharmaceutical and/or cosmetic topical agent.
This study was conducted to investigate the potential of bambangan (Mangifera pajang) fruit extracts in the protection against oxidative damage caused by tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the human hepatocellular HepG2 cell line. Proteins which might be involved in the cytoprotective mechanism were investigated using western blotting technique. Quercetin was used as a positive control. The results showed that only the kernel extract of M. pajang and quercetin displayed cytoprotective activity in HepG2 cells, with EC(50) values of 1.2 and 5.3μg/ml, respectively. Expression of quinone reductase, glutathione reductase and methionine sulfoxide reductase A proteins were significantly up-regulated by quercetin, suggesting their involvement in the cytoprotective activity of quercetin. However, expressions of only glutathione reductase and methionine sulfoxide reductase A proteins were significantly up-regulated by the kernel extract, again suggesting their involvement in the cytoprotective activity of bambangan kernel extract. Future study is needed to investigate the involvement of other cytoprotective proteins in the cytoprotection mechanism.