Autooxidation Of Linoleic Acid Research Articles

Optimized Baccharis dracunculifolia extract as photoprotective and antioxidant: In vitro and in silico assessment

Baccharis dracunculifolia (alecrim-do-campo) leaves contain polyphenols with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and represents an alternative for the production or enhancement of sunscreen formulations. This study was designed to evaluate the photoprotective and antioxidant action of B. dracunculifolia, using in vitro and in silico methods, and correlate them with its phytochemical profile to obtain the optimized extract. The chemical composition was verified by chromatographic analysis, which confirmed the presence of flavonoids and phenolic acids. The B. dracunculifolia extract was optimized using antioxidant potential by eliminating the free radical DPPH, auto-oxidation of linoleic acid, in vitro sun protection factor (SPF), and quimiometric analysis. The optimal extraction conditions were defined, resulting in a value of SPF 18.9 and antioxidant EC50 12.9, and a total polyphenol content of 6%. The stereoelectronic properties involved with the antioxidant action and UV absorption were studied using an in silico approach. The electron donating capacity in silico was observed in the flavonoid quercetin while the greatest antioxidant capacity in phenolic acids was chlorogenic acid. The obtained results suggest the photoprotective and antioxidant effect of B. dracunculifolia and support its use in natural and multifunctional formulations against UV-induced damages.

Glucose Sensing Based on the Interaction of Gold Nanoparticles@Linoleic Acid With the Glucose

We synthesized gold nanoparticles at linoleic acid (GNPs&#x0040;linoleic acid) for glucose sensing application with the help of fluorescence spectroscopy. The synthesis is a non-toxic process. So, the synthesized nanoparticles are safe and biologically compatible with the human body. The synthesis process uses a polyunsaturated fatty acid called linoleic acid that surrounds the GNPs and acts as a reducing and stabilizing agent. In this procedure, first, we achieve the optimal synthesis method by changing the gold salt concentration, which leads to obtaining the maximum sensitivity to changing the glucose concentration. For this purpose, we considered the optimal concentration of gold salt 2 mM. Eventually, gold nanoparticles remain in linoleic acid. In the next stage, we obtain the fluorescence spectra of the synthesized GNPs&#x0040;linoleic acid (at the excitation wavelength of 405 nm) in the presence of different glucose concentrations. Our measurements show an increase in glucose concentration reduces the peak intensity of the fluorescence for the GNPs&#x0040;linoleic acid. The main reasons for this reduction are the degradation and auto-oxidation of linoleic acid, catalytic features of GNPs, and the presence of GNPs&#x0040;linoleic acid in measuring glucose concentrations, enhancing the sensitivity as compared to that of linoleic acid alone by 4.8 times. The synthesized GNPs&#x0040;linoleic acid can measure the glucose concentration within the linear range of 0&#x2013;300 mg<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot $ </tex-math></inline-formula>dL^&#x2212;1 (i.e., 0-16.65 mM) by a detection limit of 50 mg<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot $ </tex-math></inline-formula>dL^&#x2212;1 (&#x007E;2.8 mM). This measurement range is suitable for clinical applications &#x2014; i.e., within 70 to 120 mg<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot $ </tex-math></inline-formula>dL^&#x2212;1.

Evaluation of bioactive properties of Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom protein hydrolysate of different degree of hydrolysis

Edible mushrooms are natural sources for numerous bioactive properties which can protect human body from oxidative damages, hypertension, abnormal cell growth etc., The present study disclosed that, bioactive properties of mushroom proteins are significantly enhanced by adopting enzymatic hydrolysis. This study established the mushroom protein hydrolysates (MPHs), produced from freshly cultivated edible mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, could be the supreme source of both bioactive and nutraceutical compounds. Here, both unhydrolysed mushroom extract (UME) and proteinase K treated MPHs of different degrees of hydrolysis DH% (55%, 60%, 65%, 70% and 80%) under optimized condition were evaluated for antioxidative, angiotensin rennin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory and antiproliferative activities at different concentrations (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/ml). Among these, 65% DH at 10 mg/ml exhibited profound antioxidative (DPPH, ABTS, hydroxyl radical scavenging, metal chelating, linoleic acid auto-oxidation, FRAP, and reducing power) and ACE inhibitory activities. Maximum amount of total phenolic and flavonoid content was also obtained in this case. MTT assay confirmed the remarkable antiproliferative properties of MPHs against human cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa). Presence of a wide range of phenolic (i.e., gallic, trans-cinnamic, caffeic, ferulic, aspartic and vanillic acid) and flavonoid (quercetin) compounds in both UME and MPHs were identified through HPLC.

Enhancing Effect of a Roasting Treatment on the Radical Scavenging Activity of a Marine Brown Alga Polysaccharide (Alginic acid).

We found an effective roasting method that enhances the effects on various radical scavenging activities of polysaccharide (alginic acid) derived from the marine brown alga Lessonia trabeculata. These enhancing effects were observed by a roasting treatment under relatively high temperature conditions (160ºC and 180ºC), which were measured by (i) a stable radical compound diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH), (ii) a hydroperoxide generating system of linoleic acid autooxidation, and (iii) an opsonized zymosan (Opz)-induced oxygen radical generating system in human blood neutrophils. Although a significant enhancing effect of the roasting treatment on the radical scavenging activity of the alginic acid itself was not detected under relatively low temperature conditions (100ºC and 130ºC), the roasting treatment of a mixture of alginic acid and several specific amino acids caused considerable radical scavenging activities under the same roasting conditions. When alginic acid was roasted at relatively high temperatures (160ºC or 180ºC), the mixture of the alginic acid and specific amino acids exhibited much higher radical scavenging activities than did the alginic acid alone. The significance of this finding is discussed from the viewpoint of healthy food science.

Antioxidant efficacy of carotenoid extract from bacterial strain Kocuria marina DAGII

Free radicals generation and cellular oxidation during metabolic activities often results serious cellular damage as well as life threatening diseases in human. Over the years scientific exploration has been extensively carried out to find suitable biomolecules to overcome these issues and carotenoids has that potential to confer such significant antioxidant property by means of radical scavenging and auto-oxidation inhibiting activity. The present study focuses on determination antioxidant potentiality of carotenoid from a bacterial strain, designated and identified as Kocuria marina DAGII. The antioxidant characteristics of the carotenoid was studied by measuring DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity and inhibition of Linoleic Acid peroxidation capability. The activity of carotenoid has been studied comparatively with ß carotene and ascorbic acid as standard antioxidant and the IC 50 value has been determined. It has been found that the extracted carotenoid exhibit 76.88% radical scavenging activity with IC 50 value of 53.76μg/mL against ß carotene (146.56μg/mL) and ascorbic acid (40.43 μg/mL). Inhibition of linoleic acid per oxidation of the carotenoid has been (89.65%) with IC 50 value of 43.81μg/mL while ß carotene and ascorbic acid has shown 58.47%, 90.12% inhibition and IC 50 value of 121.40μg/mL and 38.36μg/mL respectively. Thus it can be concluded that the extracted carotenoid exhibit higher antioxidant activity in terms of DPPH radical scavenging and Linoleic acid auto oxidation inhibition capability than ß carotene that can encourage to use this carotenoid as a potential nutraceutical, food additives as well as in other industrial aspects, although it requires further studies.

Preparation of potent antioxidant peptide from edible part of shortclub cuttlefish against radical mediated lipid and DNA damage

In this current investigation, the antioxidant peptides were derived from marine Sepia brevimana mantle by trypsin, α-chymotrypsin and pepsin for 12 h hydrolysis. The active peptides were found in the hydrolysates of trypsin and α-chymotrypsin at the 7th hour and pepsin at the 8th hour. The highest activity was found in trypsin hydrolysate compared to others using various radical scavenging and metal ions transition assays, further the hydrophobic amino acids were observed in more quantity along with other amino acids. Active peptide was purified by consecutive chromatographic techniques and evaluated by DPPH (38.81 ± 1.07%) and reducing power assays (0.478 ± 0.03). The purified peptide exhibited significant inhibition for the linoleic acid auto-oxidation in the model system, protective effect on DNA damage due to hydroxyl radical induction and was non-toxic even at higher concentration. The mass and sequence of the peptide was found to be 679.5 Da and Ile/Leu-Asn-Ile/Leu-Cys-Cys-Asn, respectively. The current results suggested that cuttlefish peptide could be used as natural antioxidant in enhancing antioxidant properties of functional foods and in preventing oxidation reactions in food processing.

Isolation And Identification Of An Antioxidant Peptide Prepared From Fermented Peanut Meal Using Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation

In order to recover and utilize peanut protein resource, peanut meal was fermented using Bacillus subtilis to prepare antioxidant peptides in this study. The antioxidant activities of the peanut peptides were evaluated via six in vitro tests, namely, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity, 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) scavenging activity, inhibition of linoleic acid autoxidation, reducing power, and metal chelating capacity. The peanut peptides showed 63.28% of scavenging effect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical, 70.67% of scavenging effect on 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) and 39.32% of superoxide anion radical scavenging activity at 1.0 mg/ml, and 62.69% of inhibition on linoleic acid autooxidation at 0.8 mg/ml. Besides, the peanut peptides exhibited 32.8% of reducing power and 60.44% of Fe2+-chelating capacity at 2 mg/ml. Then the peanut peptides were desalted with macroporous resin; the fraction eluted with 75% ethanol showed the highest scavenging activity on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical. This fraction was subject to further purification using gel filtration chromatography and reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography. At last, a peptide was gained, and it was identified to be Tyr-Pro with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight/time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The results indicated that it is feasible to prepare natural antioxidants from peanut meal using B. subtilis fermentation.

Study on antioxidation in Xiangyang yellow rice wine

The antioxidant capacities of four kinds of yellow rice wine ( Xiangyang “123” ( A) , “Yue Ying Zui” ( B) , “Chen Ji” ( C) , and “Lu Lin Wang” ( D) ) were initially detected with Gu Yue Long Shan rice wine ( E) as the reference in this paper. The total antioxidant capacity, reducibility, DPPH free radical scavenging ability and scavenging ability of superoxide anion with BHA as the reference were used as indicators. The foline-phenol method was used to determine the total phenol content in the yellow rice wine.The results showed that A had the highest total phenol content of 133μg /mL in the five kinds of yellow rice wine. The reducibilities of D and E were higher than that of V C.With BHA as the reference of total antioxidant capacity, the inhibition rates of B, C, D, E and BHA on the auto-oxidation of linoleic acid were all more than 80% when the experiment time reached to 120h and the inhibition rate of A was 64.4%.The free radical scavenging abilities of B, C, D and E on superoxide anion were all more than 55%, and 47% of A was the lowest.With BHA for reference, the DPPH radical free scavenging rates of A, B, C, D and E were 40%, 50.5%, 45%, 53.8% and 55.7% respectively, lower than that of BHA.Overall, Xiang Yang rice wine had certain antioxidant capacity, and the antioxidant ability of A was weaker compared with other kinds of yellow rice wine, which might be related to the pretreatment of the sample.

Antioxidant Activity of Purified Protein Hydrolysates from Northern Whiting Fish (Sillago sihama) Muscle

In the present study, northern whiting fish (Sillago sihama) muscle was hydrolyzed with gastrointestinal enzymes (pepsin, trypsin and α-chymotrypsin) separately and the resulted protein hydrolysates were tested for antioxidant activities using DPPH radical scavenging activity and reducing power assays. The protein hydrolysate obtained from trypsin exhibited highest antioxidant activity. Further, it was fractionated by consecutive chromatography using anion exchange and gel filtration chromatography; the separated fractions were collected and evaluated for antioxidant activity. The results showed that fraction 2 exhibited high chelating activity (73.15 % at 0.5 mg/mL) and best radical scavenging activity for DPPH radical (55.16 % at 0.5 mg/mL), ABTS radical (57.98 % at 50 μg/mL), superoxide radical (39.55 % at 200 μg/mL) and hydroxyl radical (51.33 % at 100 μg/mL). In addition, the active fraction showed strong antioxidant activity in the inhibition of linoleic acid autooxidation (60 % at 0.5 mg/mL) and also it exhibited significant protective effect on DNA damage caused by hydroxyl radicals. The size of the active fraction was found to be <360.2 Da using mass spectroscopy. These results demonstrate that muscle protein hydrolysate from northern whiting fish could be a best alternative to produce natural antioxidant peptides.

Functional properties of autolysate and enzymatic hydrolysates from yam tsukuneimo (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) tuber mucilage tororo: antioxidative activity and antihypertensive activity.

Yam tsukuneimo tuber mucilage tororo hydrolysates were prepared by autolysis and three different peptic enzymes. Except for pepsin hydrolysate, tororo was perfectly digested. Each hydrolysate for 100mg/ml significantly prolonged the induction period of auto-oxidation of linoleic acid, which was similar to 5mM ascorbic acid. These hydrolysates also possessed high scavenging activities such as superoxide anion radicals, hydroxyl radicals, and DPPH radicals. Moreover, high antihypertensive activities were detected in these hydrolysates except for autolysate, which were similar to various fermented foods such as miso, natto, sake, cheese, and so on. Present findings suggest that yam tsukuneimo tuber mucilage tororo may be useful for preventing diseases associated with reactive oxygen species and blood pressure in the body system and it can fully absorb the useful components from it to digest using the gastrointestinal enzymes.

Antioxidative activity of 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-beta-carboline-3-carboxylic acid.

The (-)-(1S, 3S) isomer of 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-beta-carboline-3-carboxylic acid was synthesised by Pictet-Spengler condensation of tryptophan with acetaldehyde. It was evaluated for its antioxidative activity in the linoleic acid autooxidation system by the ferric thiocynate method. Butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA), butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), and alpha-tocopherol were used as the reference standards. The compound showed moderate antioxidative activity and also synergistic effect with the reference standards. The synergistic effect was in the increasing order of BHT, alpha-tocopherol and BHA. The synergistic effect was higher at higher concentrations studied.

Influence of the degree of hydrolysis (DH) on antioxidant properties and radical-scavenging activities of peanut peptides prepared from fermented peanut meal

To study the influence of degree of hydrolysis (DH) on antioxidant properties of peanut peptides, the peanut meal was fermented by Bacillus subtilis. The fermentation time was 48, 72, and 96 h, respectively, to prepare peanut peptides at different degree of hydrolysis. The peanut peptides (11.18, 16.20, and 21.41% of DH, respectively) were extracted from fermentation liquid. The antioxidant properties of these peanut peptides were evaluated based on DPPH· radical (1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical) scavenging activity, superoxide anion-scavenging activity, reducing power, metal-chelating activity, and inhibition of linoleic acid autooxidation. Peanut peptides (21.41% of DH) at 1 mg/mL exhibited 80.86 and 29.35% of scavenging concentration percent on DPPH· and superoxide anion radical, respectively. In addition, the reducing power of peanut peptides was 0.368 at 2 mg/mL, and they possessed 76.32% of Fe2+-chelation ability at 2 mg/mL and 63.75% of inhibition of linoleic acid autooxidation at 0.8 mg/mL. The antioxidant activities of the peanut peptides (21.41% of DH) were stronger compared with others (11.18 and 16.20% of DH), and this indicated the antioxidant activities of peanut peptides increased with increasing DH (p < 0.05). To know much about the peanut peptides, they were subjected to amino acid analysis and determination of molecular weight distribution. Some acidic amino acids and essential amino acids were found, and the average molecular weight distributions were concentrated in <1,400 Da (86.96%). Combined with the results of the amino acid profiles, the peanut peptides were believed to have high nutritive value besides antioxidant activities.

Purification and characterisation of a new antioxidant peptide from chickpea (Cicer arietium L.) protein hydrolysates

An antioxidant peptide was purified using consecutive chromatographic methods from chickpea protein hydrolysates (CPH). This peptide was designated as Fra.7. It had a molecular weight of 717.37Da, and its amino acid sequence was identified as Asn-Arg-Tyr-His-Glu by an ABI 4700 proteomics analyser. This antioxidant peptide was identified for the first time from food-derived protein hydrolysates. The molar ratio of the five amino acids in the sequence was 1:1:1:1:1. This antioxidant peptide efficiently quenched the free radical sources 1,1-diphenyl-2-pycryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl, and superoxide free radicals. The Cu2+ and Fe2+ chelating activities were 76.92% and 63.08% at the peptide concentration of 50μgmL−1, respectively. Furthermore, the inhibition of the Fra.7 on lipid peroxidation was greater than that of α-tocopherol. The inhibition ratio of the linoleic acid autooxidation was 88.81% at the eighth day of analysis.

ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES AND POSSIBLE MODE OF ACTION OF CORN PROTEIN PEPTIDES AND ZEIN PEPTIDES

ABSTRACT Corn peptides (CPS) and zein peptides (ZPS) were prepared from defatted corn gluten meal and zein, respectively by proteolysis with alcalase, an alkaline protease. The molecular-mass distributions and amino acid compositions of CPS and ZPS were determined and compared. With α-tocopherol as the positive control, the antioxidant activities of CPS and ZPS were investigated by several in vitro assay systems, including the scavenging effects on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical, the inhibiting emergence of hydroxyl radical and prevention of linoleic acidauto-oxidation and the reducing power of CPS and ZPS. The capacities of CPS and ZPS removing superoxide anion from pyrogallol auto-oxidation were also estimated. The data revealed that the antioxidant potency of CPS was similar to that of ZPS. CPS and ZPS also exhibited the similar reducing power. The possible mode of action of antioxidant activity was because of the presence of some proton-donating peptide components in CPS and ZPS products. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS CPS, hydrolyzate of corn gluten meal through the action of alcalase with the molecular-mass distribution from 300 to 1,000 Da, showed the same notable antioxidant activities, free radical-scavenging activities and reducing power in vitro as those of ZPS, hydrolyzate of zein. Therefore, CPS rather than ZPS can be used as an ingredient with antioxidant activity in pharmaceutical and food industries in the future. Subsequently, the cost of production of natural antioxidant can be decreased and the process of production also be simplified greatly.

Evaluation of the antioxidant activity of Chinese Hickory ( Carya cathayensis ) kernel ethanol extraction

The kernel of Carya cathayensis Sarg. is a special local product and is widely used as a kind of food in China. In the present study, the antioxidant properties of the kernel including the ability to inhibit the autooxidation of linoleic acid, the reducing capacity, and the scavenging activity on the free radicals were evaluated. The results indicated that a kernel of C. cathayensis has effective antioxidant function, especially in superoxide anion scavenging activity.

Effect of hydrothermal treatment on the antioxidant properties of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis italica) florets

In the extracts of fresh raw and frozen broccoli, caffeic, ferulic, sinapinic acids and kaempferol were identified. Boiling reduced the amounts of caffeic acid and kaempferol in both samples. The concentration of polyphenols was 2.69mg/g fresh mass and 0.96mg/fresh mass in fresh raw broccoli and frozen raw broccoli, respectively. Boiling significantly decreased the amounts of phenolic compounds in fresh broccoli (1.58mg/g of fresh mass). In the case of frozen broccoli, boiling increased the concentration of polyphenols by 38%. Fresh broccoli extract neutralized free radicals by 19.87%. Boiling significantly reduced its antiradical activity (to 15.06%). Samples of frozen broccoli had a 27.06% antiradical ability. Boiling did not change the antiradical activity in frozen broccoli case. Hydrothermal processing significantly influenced on the ability of the extracts to inhibit the decolorization of β-carotene emulsion. The extract of fresh broccoli had a higher activity when uncooked. Boiling seemed to increase this activity in the case of frozen broccoli samples. The results of the studies on the ability of broccoli extracts to inhibit linoleic acid autooxidation were ambiguous and depended on the method applied. No correlation was found between the content of phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity of the extracts, regardless of the experimental variant and technique used.

Antioxidant hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives isolated from Brazilian bee pollen

One novel and three known hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives having antioxidant activities were isolated from a Brazilian bee pollen. They were identified as kaempferol 3-O-[2-O-p-coumaroyl]-α-L-arabinopyranoside, N1, N5, N10-tri-p-coumaroyl spermidine, N1, N5, N10, N14-tetra-p-coumaroyl spermine, and monocaffeoyl-tri-p-coumaroyl spermine, respectively. The structure of the kaempferol glycoside was established on the basis of spectroscopic and chemical investigations. Among the isolated compounds, monocaffeoyl-tri-p-coumaroyl spermine showed the strongest free radical-scavenging activity, which was almost identical to that of α-tocopherol. On the other hand, the antioxidant effect of tri-p-coumaroyl spermidine on autooxidation of linoleic acid was strongest and nearly equal to that of α-tocopherol.

Estrogens are potentially the only steroids with an antioxidant role in pregnancy: in vitro evidence

Pregnancy is a condition that favors oxidative stress by reactive oxygen species. Oxidative stress is involved in the etiopathogenesis of disorders of pregnancy such as pre-eclampsia. An antioxidant effect of estrogens has been described and a putative role of them as antioxidants has been proposed. The aim of this work was to evaluate in vitro the antioxidant properties of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, estradiol, estriol, progesterone, and testosterone, five steroid hormones present in the maternofetal circulation. The antioxidant properties of the hormones were evaluated by two methods: 1. their antioxidant effect on the auto-oxidation of linoleic acid, a hydrogen atom transfer reaction; 2. diphenylpicrylhydrazyl-scavenging capacity, a single electron transfer reaction. Of the five hormones tested, only estradiol and estriol at 10 microM concentration exerted a strong antioxidant effect of 81.73 and 70.97% respectively on linoleic acid auto-oxidation, at the end-point of the reaction. Likewise, only these two hormones showed radical-scavenging activity on diphenylpicrylhydrazyl, noticeable only at supraphysiological concentrations of 1 mM. Estradiol and estriol could play a role as antioxidants for maternofetal autoprotection in addition to their hormonal activity, but this role could be preferentially exerted by estriol due to its higher concentrations exhibited during pregnancy. In vivo studies are necessary to shed light on this issue.

Antioxidant activity of the polysaccharide of the red microalga Porphyridium sp

The cells of the red microalga Porphyridium UTEX 637 are encapsulated within a sulfated polysaccharide whose external part (i.e., the soluble fraction) dissolves into the medium. It is thought that the main function of the polysaccharide is to protect the algal cells from the extreme environmental conditions, such as drought and high light, prevailing in their native sea-sand habitat. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant properties of the water-soluble polysaccharide of Porphyridium sp. by determining the ability of a polysaccharide solution to inhibit: (1) autooxidation of linoleic acid, as determined by the standard thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and ferrous oxidation (FOX) assays; and (2) oxidative damage to 3T3 cells as determined by the dichlorofluorescein (DCFH) assay. In all three assays, the polysaccharide inhibited oxidative damage in a dose-dependent manner. Antioxidant activity was also exhibited by fractions of the polysaccharide obtained by sonication followed by separation on a reverse-phase HPLC with a C8 semi-preparative column. It is suggested that the antioxidant activity of the sulfated polysaccharide protects the alga against reactive oxygen species produced under high solar irradiation, possibly by scavenging the free radicals produced in the cell under stress conditions and transporting them from the cell to the medium.

Antioxidative and Antigenotoxic Effects of Japanese Horse Chestnut (Aesculus turbinata) Seeds

Japanese horse chestnut seed extract (HCSE) dose-dependently inhibited the autooxidation of linoleic acid (IC(50): 0.2 mg/ml), and the inhibition was almost complete at a concentration of 1 mg/ml. The HCSE scavenged DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radicals and superoxide anions with EC(50)s of 0.65 and 0.21 mg/ml, respectively. However, it had no effect on hydrogen peroxide. The HCSE inhibited the genotoxicities of furylfuramide, N-methyl-N-nitrosourea, methyl methanesulfonate, mitomycin C, 2-aminoanthracene and aflatoxin B1 at a concentration of 1 mg/ml or more. Total polyphenol content of the HCSE was 21 mg/g (13 mg/g-seeds). These results indicate that the Japanese horse chestnut seed is an antioxidative and antimutagenic botanical resource.