Antibacterial and Antioxidative Activities of Epimedium koreanum Nakai Extracts

Abstract

In this study, the antibacterial and antioxidative activities of Epimedium koreanum Nakai were investigated for applications as cosmetic ingredients. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of fraction-bacterium, that showed high antibacterial activity from disc diffusion assay on human skin pathogens, were tested. The ethyl acetate fraction on Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Propionibacterium acnes and 50% ethanol extract on S. aureus exhibited higher antibacterial activities than methyl paraben, well known as a preservative. The DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activities of 3 fractions of E. koreanum Nakai were lower than (+)--tocopherol, known as a typical antioxidant. From the results of the scavenging activities of various ROS generated in systems (), 50% ethanol extract () and aglycone fraction () showed high activities similar to L-ascorbic acid (), used as reference. The cellular protective effects () on photohemolysis by generated by photosensitization reaction were tested. The cellular protective effect of 50% ethanol extract ( min) was similar to (+)--tocopherol ( min), used as reference. In particular, the of aglycone fraction results were min. This is a high cellular protective effect, more than 4 times that of (+)--tocopherol. These results indicate that E. koreanum Nakai extract, and its fractions, could be utilized as a cosmetic ingredient possessing antibacterial and antioxidative activities.