Biomedical Research

In this study, we aim to investigate the free radical scavenging, anti-melanogenic and antibacterial properties of crude extracts from peel and seed of Cinnamomum camphora. Results showed that methanol extract of peel was minor sensitive to Staphylococcus aureaus and Escherichia coli. The fractions obtained by n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-butanol or water of peel and seed had significant antioxidant activity. The IC₅₀ value of n-butanol, water and ethyl acetate fraction of the peel exhibited 48.82, 221.32 and 647.85 μg/ml scavenging activity in DPPH free radical. The IC₅₀ value of nbutanol, water and ethyl acetate fraction of the peel exhibited 1135.47, 438.69 and 3127.09 μg/ml in metal chelating ability on ferrous ions assays. n-butanol fraction of peel displayed the best antioxidant activity in ABTS assay. Especially, IC₅₀ of the mushroom tyrosinase inhibition at n-hexane extraction of the seed was 53.68 μg/ml. The results obtained in the present investigation suggest that the crude extracts of peel and seed of C. camphora had promising antibacterial and antioxidant activity against free radicals. The n-butanol or water extract of peel may be further study to isolate the active compounds in the future.

Author(s): Chi-Ming Liu, Mei-Hui Perng, Chung-Yi Chen
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