In order to study the antitumoral effect of Selaginella tamariscina extracts, the cytotoxicities to human histiocytic leukemia cells (U937) and lymphocyte were measured by MTT method. The water extract of Selaginella tamariscina was partitioned into chloroform (CHCl₃), ethylacetate (EtAc), n-butanol (BuOH) and water (H₂O), successively. CHCl₃, EtAc and BuOH fractions of Selaginella tamariscina showed the cytotoxicity to the U937 cells but they had no effect on the cytotoxicity of lymphocyte under the same conditions. The tumor-specific cytotoxicity of Selaginella tamariscina fractions might have been attributed to their genotoxic effect on actively proliferating cells. The expression of p53 tumor suppressor gene was then evaluated by northern blotting. The increased expression of p53 was induced by Selaginella ramariscina fraction V but no expression of p53 was induced by CHCl₃, EtAc, and BuOH fractions of Selaginella tamariscina. These results suggested that the increased expression of p53 induced by Selaginella tamariscina water extract (fraction V) should be required for the cytotoxicity on U937 and the other fractions of Selaginella tamariscina mediated the U937 disruption.

Optimal conditions for hot water extraction of Liriope spicata tuber were investigated with changes in solvent ratio(2∼6 fold) and heating time(1∼5 hr) by response surface methodology. The content of extractable solids increased with an increased in solvent ratio, and the highest content showed at heating time of 3 hr. The content of total steroid saponin increased with a decrease in solvent ratio, and increased with an increase in heating time at increasing the solvent ratio. The content of non-reducing sugar containing oligosaccharides at a lower solvent ratio didn’t show changes depending on heating time, while that at a higher ration decreased with an increase in heating time. Optimal extraction conditions using hot water as the limited conditions of 15∼18% extractable solids, 1.5∼2.0% total steroid saponin, 6∼8% reducing sugar, 6∼7% non-reducing sugar and 13∼15 brix were 3 hrs of heating time and 4 fold of solvent ratio.