Studies On Antioxidant And Anticancer Activities Of Extract From The Fruit Shell Of Camellia Oleifera Abel

The fruit shell of Camellia oleifera Abel is the by-product in Camellia oleifera Abel processing. The great majority of them are burnt or abandoned in actual production, which result in pollution and waste. In recent years, some studies indicated that the fruit shell of Camellia oleifera Abel had great antioxidant activity. In addition, there are almost no report about its biological activity and medical value. Therefore, it is very meaningful to investigate its health function. This subject is conducted according to preliminary study and investigated the composition, biological activity (antioxidant and anticancer activity) and safety of the fruit shell of Camellia oleifera Abel.(1) Composition analysisThe nutrients composition of the ethanol extract (50% ethanol extract) were detected by national standard method. The results showed that the content of sugar was 23.4 g/100g, which was the highest, follow by ash, and it also had a small amount of water, fat and protein. The ethanol extract was separated into three polar parts by organic solvents, and ethyl acetate fraction, butanol fraction and water fraction were obtained. The polyphenol contents of ethanol extract and its three fractions were detected by Folin-Ciocalteau method. The results showed that polyphenol was mainly concentrated in ethyl acetate fraction, which had the weakest polarity, and the content was 39.3%. The polyphenol contents decreased in the order of ethyl acetate fraction, butanol fraction, ethanol extract and water fraction, which had a negative correlation with the solvent polarity. The three key components (gallic acid (GA), 3-methyl-ellagic acid-4'-O-glucoside (MEAG) and ellagic acid (EA)) contents of ethanol extract and its three fractions were detected by High Performance Liquid Chromatography method. The results showed that most of the key components were enriched in the ethyl acetate fraction, and the butanol fraction mainly had MEAG, which indicated the possibility of seperating and manufacturing MEAG from butanol fraction. The contents of the key components in water fraction were low.(2) Antioxidant activity researchThe antioxidant activity of ethanol extract and its three fractions were determined by DPPH assay, TEAC assay, FRAP assay and T-AOC assay, respectively. The results showed that the extracts all had antioxidant activity. The four systems showed the same results. The antioxidant activity decreased in the order of ethyl acetate fraction, butanol fraction, ethanol extract and water fraction. Moreover, it was correlated with total polyphenol content. The correlation coefficients reached up to 0.9. Ethyl acetate fraction had a strong radicals scavenging ability, which was comparable to ascorbic acid. The antioxidant activity in lard, camellia and turtle oil of the extracts from the fruit shell of Camellia oleifera Abel was determined by Rancimat method, The results showed that the extracts had stronger antioxidant activities in animal oil system than in plant oil system, and the ethyl acetate fraction had the strongest activity.(3) Anticancer activity research The inhibition capacity of ethanol extract and its three fractions on fatty acid synthase in vitrowere determined. The results showed that the extracts all had inhibition capacity. The activitydecreased in the order of ethanol extract, butanol fraction, ethyl acetate fraction and water fraction.There was no necessary connection between fatty acid synthase inhibition and antioxidantactivity. Synergy might exist among its three fractions. The inhibitory effects on H460 and A549by MTT colorimetric assay in vitro were determined. The results showed that the activitydecreased in the order of butanol fraction, ethanol extract, ethyl acetate fraction and water fraction.The butanol fraction displayed the strongest inhibitory activity in three fractions, which indicatedthat the effective ingredient of anticancer might be mainly concentrated in the butanol fraction.The inhibitory effects on tumor growth in vivo was investigated by the mouse tumor model. Theethanol extract showed antitumor effect. The inhibition rate of tumor was above 40% at the doseof 150mg/kg·d.(4) Safety assessmentThe acute toxicity test in mice showed that the ethanol extract was nontoxic substance.In summary, the extract from the fruit shell of Camellia oleifera Abel had antioxidant andanticancer activity. It was also safe. It is worth developing antioxidant and anticancer products byadding the extract from the fruit shell of Camellia oleifera Abel in the future.