백련 잎의 소비확대를 위한 기초자료 확보측면에서 2007년 8월에 ‘가람’, ‘초의’, ‘백화건련’, ‘승달’ 백련의 잎을 수확하여 열수와 에탄올 추출물의 생리활성 효과를 조사하였다. 총 페놀함량은 열수 추출물의 경우 ‘초의’ 백련에서 78.3㎍·mL-1로 가장 많았고, 에탄올 추출물은 ‘백화건련’에서 146.8㎍·mL-1로 가장 많았다. 전자공여능은 추출물의 농도가 2,000ppm일 때 ‘승달’의 열수 추출물 및 에탄올 추출물에서 각각 83.3%와 94.0%로 가장 높았다. 총 플라보노이드 함량은 에탄올 추출물에서 높게 나타나 63.6㎍·mL-1(‘승달’)-92.2㎍·mL-1(‘초의’)를 나타낸 반면에 열수 추출물은 28.8㎍·mL-1(‘초의’) 이하를 나타내었다. 아질산염 소거는 추출물의 농도가 2,000ppm일 때 열수 추출물은 ‘초의’ 에서 69.2%로 가장 높게 나타났으며, 에탄올 추출물에서는 ‘백화건련’에서 80.7%로 가장 높게 나타났다. Tyrosinase 활성 저해 효과는 백련의 종류 및 용매에 관계없이 거의 나타나지 않았다. 항균활성은 에탄올 추출물에서 다소 높게 나타났는데, 저해환의 직경은 전반적으로 8.3-11.2mm를 나타냈다.
This study was conducted to gather the basic data on physiological activities of leaf extracts from white lotus for the increase of public consumption. The leaves of four species of white lotus including cv. 'Garam', 'Choeue', 'Baekwageollyeon', and 'Seungdal' were harvested, and their physiological activities of extracts from the heated water and ethanol were examined. Total phenol contents were highest in the extracts of heated-water from the white lotus cv. 'Choeue' by 78.3㎍·mL-1 and in ethanol extracts from cv. 'Baekwageollyeon' by 146.8㎍·mL-1. DPPH radical scavenging activity was highest at 2,000ppm of the heated-water and ethanol extracts of white lotus cv. 'Seungdal' by 83.9% and 94.0%, respectively. Total flavonoid contents in the ethanol extracts of cv. 'Seungdal'(63.6㎍·mL-1) and 'Choeue'(92.2㎍·mL-1) were higher than those in the heated-water extracts of cv. 'Choeue' (28.8㎍·mL-1). Nitrite scavenging activity of heated-water extracts of cv. 'Choeue' extracted was 69.2%, and ethanol extracts of 'Baekwageollyeon' 80.7%. No significance in tyrosinase inhibition activity of the leaf extracts from four species of white lotus among those species and solvents were observed. Anti-microbial activity of the ethanol extracts was higher than that of the heated water, showing bigger inhibition diameter (8.3 to 11.2mm).