Evaluation of Pharmacological Activities of Ethanol Extracts Prepared from Selected Korean Medicinal Plants

Evaluation of Pharmacological Activities of Ethanol Extracts Prepared from Selected Korean Medicinal Plants

In this study, 23 ethanolic extracts from 20 medicinal plants were evaluated for biological activities. Results revealed that of 23 samples, seven samples have demonstrated good antimicrobial activity. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were 0.4-2.0 mg/mL, while minimum bactericidal concentrations were mostly high 0.8-2.0 mg/mL for selected seven samples. Five samples revealed > 70 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g of total phenolic contents. Among test samples, six samples exhibited > 80% inhibition of the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and only two samples exhibited > 80% inhibition of 2,2'-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radicals. A total of five test samples revealed Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity more than $1000{\mu}m/g$. The MTT assay indicated that eight test samples exhibited > 90% viability of murine macrophage cells (RAW 264.7) at $250{\mu}g/mL$ and suppressed iNOS mRNA expression at transcriptional level when stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Some medicinal plants revealed promising results, and so they have prospective for further more inclusive studies.