Antioxidative and antimutagenic activities of the extracts from the rinds of Garcinia pedunculata

Diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been associated with preventing mutagenesis and cancer and other health benefits. In the present study, hexane and chloroform extracts from the fruit rinds of Garcinia pedunculata were tested for their antioxidative and antimutagenic activities. Both the hexane and chloroform extracts showed antioxidant activity studied through beta-carotene-linoleate model system and alpha, alpha-diphenyl-beta-picrylhadrazyl (DPPH) method at various concentrations. At 500 ppm concentration, in case of beta-carotene-linoicate model system, the hexane and chloroform extracts of G. pedunculata showed 60 and 67% antioxidant activity respectively, whereas the free radical scavenging activity was 45% and 65%, respectively with DPPH method. The antimutagenicity of the hexane and chloroform extracts against the mutagenicity of direct acting mutagen sodium azide was determined by the Ames test. Both the extracts showed strong antimutagenicity at or above 1250 mu g/plate in the tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium (TA100 and TA1535). However, the hexane extract showed higher antimunagenic potential than the chloroform extract. Thus, this preliminary study documents for the first time the antioxidant and antimutagenic properties of the extracts from the fruit rinds of G. pedunculata. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.