Edible flowers — antioxidant activity and impact on cell viability

• Published in: Central European journal of biology Vol. 8; no. 10; pp. 1023 - 1031
• Main Authors: Kucekova, Zdenka, Mlcek, Jiri, Humpolicek, Petr, Rop, Otakar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer-Verlag 01.10.2013; Springer Vienna; Versita; De Gruyter
• Subjects: Allium schoenoprasum; antioxidant activity; Antioxidants; ascorbic acid; Bellis perennis; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Cancer cells; Cell Biology; cell viability; Cichorium intybus; colorimetry; flowers; hepatoma; Herbs; Human Genetics; humans; Immunology; incubation period; Life Sciences; phenolic compounds; Polyphenols; Research Article; Rumex acetosa; Salvia pratensis; Sambucus nigra; Taraxacum officinale; Tragopogon; Trifolium repens; Viola arvensis; Antioxidants; Herbs; Polyphenols; Cancer cells
• ISSN: 1895-104X; 2391-5412; 1644-3632; 2391-5412
• DOI: 10.2478/s11535-013-0212-y

The phenolic compound composition, antioxidant activity and impact on cell viability of edible flower extracts of Allium schoenoprasum; Bellis perennis; Cichorium intybus; Rumex acetosa; Salvia pratensis; Sambucus nigra; Taraxacum officinale; Tragopogon pratensis; Trifolium repens and Viola arvensis was examined for the first time. Total phenolic content of the flowers of these plants fell between 11.72 and 42.74 mg of tannin equivalents/kg of dry matter. Antioxidant activity ranged from 35.56 to 71.62 g of ascorbic acid equivalents/kg of dry matter. Using the Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma cell-line (HepG2) and the Human Immortalized Non-tumorigenic Keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT), we assessed cell viability following a 3 day incubation period in media containing 25, 50, 75 and 100 μg/ml of total phenolic compounds using a colorimetric MTT assay. These three properties could make the herbs useful in treatment of various diseases like cancer. The tested extracts had significant effects on cell viability, but the effects were dependent not only on the phenolic compound concentration and the edible flowers species, but also on the phenolic compound and antioxidant profiles. In addition, responses differed between cell lines.