• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.297-302
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• 2013

The current study was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil fraction from the roots of Angelica tenuissima Nakai and its main components. We extracted the essential oil fraction from the roots of A. tenuissima using steam distillation and isolated its main components. Their antibacterial activities were determined by broth dilution test against food-borne pathogenic bacteria. Antioxidant activities were evaluated by DPPH-scavenging assay and reducing-power test. Also tested was their ability to inhibit the growth of two gastrointestinal cancer cell lines, Caco-2 and MKN-45. The A. tenuissima oil fraction and its main components, ligustilide and butylidene phthalide exhibited marked inhibitory effects against most of the tested antibiotic-susceptible and antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains with minimum inhibiting concentrations (MICs) from $0.21{\pm}0.08$ to $3.60{\pm}0.89mg/ml$. They also showed growth-inhibiting activity against Caco-2 and MKN-45 cells. The oil fraction showed significant antioxidant activities in DPPH radical scavenging assay and reducing-power test. Taken together, A. tenuissima essential oil could be used as a safe additive for preventing food contamination by pathogenic bacteria. Additionally, its antioxidative activity and the ability to inhibit gastrointestinal carcinoma cell lines could increase its value for functional foods and prevention of cancer.