Autor(es):
Gião, Maria S. 
; Leitão, Isabel ; Pereira, Ana ; Borges, André B. ; Guedes, Catarina J. ; Fernandes, João C. ; Belo, Luís ; Santos-Silva, Alice ; Hogg, Tim A. ; Pintado, Manuela E. ; Malcata, F. Xavier
Data: 2010
Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/2656
Origem: Veritati - Repositório Institucional da Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Assunto(s): Medicinal plants; In vivo assays; Salmonella Typhimurium; Erythrocytes
Descrição
The bacteriophage P22/Salmonella Typhimurium system, as well as human erythrocytes have been used
to assay for protection, against forced oxidation caused by hydrogen peroxide, brought about by several
aqueous extracts of selected adventitious plants grown in Portugal.
This study proved, for the first time, that the aforementioned bacteriophage-based system is a suitable
method to assess the antioxidant activity of plant extracts; among the 12 plants tested, raspberry (Rubus
idaeus), sage (Salvia sp.), savory (Satureja montana) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) were found to effectively
protect against oxidative damage caused by H2O2. Haemolysis was inhibited via pre-treatment
with every plant extract tested, except heath at 0.1% (w/v).
The two analytical methods produced different results – and for some plants, there was a dependence
(either direct or inverse) of the quantitative protection effect on extract concentration, whereas for others
no significant dependence was found at all. Savory yielded the most promising results, using either
method.
Therefore, the P22/Salmonella system can be used as a suitable in vivo assay, and human erythrocytes as
a suitable in vitro assay to confirm (or not) the antioxidant capacity of plant extracts in biological
matrices.
