Velvet antler is widely used as a traditional medicine, and numerous studies have demonstrated its tremendous nutritional and medicinal values including immunity-enhancing effects. This study aimed to investigate different deer velvet extracts (Sample 1: raw extract, Sample 2: dried extract, and Sample 3: freeze-dried extract) for proximate composition, uronic acid, sulfated glycosaminoglycan, sialic acid, collagen levels, and chemical components using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-light mass spectrometry. In addition, we evaluated the cytotoxic effect of the deer velvet extracts on BV2 microglia, HT22 hippocampal cells, HaCaT keratinocytes, and RAW264.7 macrophages using the cell viability MTT assay. Furthermore, we evaluated acute toxicity of the deer velvet extracts at different doses (0, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg) administered orally to both male and female ICR mice for 14 d (five mice per group). After treatment, we evaluated general toxicity, survival rate, body weight changes, mortality, clinical signs, and necropsy findings in the experimental mice based on OECD guidelines. The results suggested that in vitro treatment with the evaluated extracts had no cytotoxic effect in HaCaT keratinocytes cells, whereas Sample-2 had a cytotoxic effect at 500 and 1000 μg/mL on HT22 hippocampal cells and RAW264.7 macrophages. Sample 3 was also cytotoxic at concentrations of 500 and 1000 μg/mL to RAW264.7 and BV2 microglial cells. However, the mice treated in vivo with the velvet extracts at doses of 500–2000 mg/kg BW showed no clinical signs, mortality, or necropsy findings, indicating that the LD50 is higher than this dosage. These findings indicate that there were no toxicological abnormalities connected with the deer velvet extract treatment in mice. However, further human and animal studies are needed before sufficient safety information is available to justify its use in humans.

The principal objective of this study was to assess the antioxidative activities of Petasites japonicus against oxidative stress in bovine brain tissue . Petasites japonicus is found with a relatively widespread distribution, and is cultivated as a culinary vegetable in Korea. Petasites japonicus samples were dried either by freeze-drying or by hot air-convection drying (80℃), then evaluated for their antioxidative activity by measuring 1-dipheny-1，2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, and by measuring thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) in brain homogenates subjected to Fe2+ -mediated lipids with or without the addition of botanical extract. Hot air convection-drying resulted in a slight increase in the extraction yie1d as compared with freeze-drying. However, total phenol and flavonoid contents in freeze-dried Petasites japonicas were significantly higher than those of hot air convection-drying. Freeze-drying increased the free radical scavenging activity of Petasites japonicas, leaves, and stems by 52.6, 28.6, and 248.0%, as compared with hot air convection-drying. Additionally, the IC50 values measured by TBARS in hot air convection-dried Petasites japonicas， leaves, and stems were increased by 36.0, 31.6, and 15.9%, as compared to those of freeze-drying. Although antioxidative activity was reduced slightly by heat processing in Petasites japonicas, freeze-drying for each portion of Petasites japonicus was the most appropriate for use as a functional food and pharmaceutical material.