Effects of Red Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Extracts on Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activity
Background : The interests in the consumption of red pepper (Capsicum annum L.) is, to a large extent due to its content of bioactive compounds and their importance as dietary antioxidants and Red pepper is commonly used as food material and a broad variety of medicinal applications, Therefore, we investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of red pepper. Methods and Results : This present study was evaluated the effect of red pepper ethanol and distilled water extracts on antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Antioxidant activity of the extracts were evaluated by the assay of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and reducing power, along with the determination of total phenolic and flavonoid contents. The ethanol and the water extracts showed strong antioxidant activity by the testing methods. Total phenol content was high in ethanol extract, whereas total flavonoid content was high in water extract. The red pepper extract exhibited high scavenging activity against DPPH radicals and showed high reducing power. In vitro cytotoxic assay, red pepper extract showed noncytotoxic effect in the RAW 264.7 cells with or without LPS. The level of nitric oxide (NO) production induced by LPS decreased in a dose-dependent manner (0.25 ㎍/ ㎖ – 1.0 ㎎/㎖). Proinfllamatory cytokine level including TNF-ɑ and IL-6 decresed in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells by treating red pepper extracts. Conclusion : These results indicate that the ethanol and distilled water extracts of red pepper can be used as an anti-proliferative therapeutic agent or functional food.