• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.333-338
• /
• 2011

In this study, antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of the herb (cinnamon, clove, glehnia root, ginger, violet-root cromwell, licorice, citrus peel and longan) extracts used for gamhongroju, one of the popular liqueurs in Korea, were investigated. Twenty grams of individual herbs were extracted in 60% purified ethanol and freeze-dried. A mixture of the individual herb extracts (HEM) was separately prepared. Cytotoxicity of the individual extracts and HEM on murine RAW264.7 macrophage cells were examined along with their recovering activity on $H_2O_2$-treated RAW264.7 cells. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the extract-treated cells were determined by measuring superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities, and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels. Violet-root cromwell extract showed the least cytotoxicity in terms of treated concentration. Most of the extracts, below levels of cytotoxicity, recovered the $H_2O_2$-treated cells. Treatment with some of the extracts increased SOD and GPx activities and TEAC levels while a majority inhibited the production of NO and PGE2 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated cells.