Antioxidative and antigenotoxic effects of Japanese horse chestnut (Aesculus turbinata) seeds

Japanese horse chestnut seed extract (HCSE) dose-dependently inhibited the autooxidation of linoleic acid IC50: 0.2 mg/ml), and the inhibition was almost complete at a concentration of 1 mg/ml. The HCSE scavenged DPPH (1.1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radicals and superoxide anions with EC50s of 0.65 and 0.21 mg/ml, respectively. However, it had no effect on hydrogen peroxide. The HCSE inhibited the genotoxicities of furylframide, N-methyl-N-nitrosourea methyl methanesulfonate, mitomycin C, 2-aminoanthracene and aflatoxin Bl at a concentration of 1 mg/ml or more. Total polyphenol content of the HCSE was 21 mg/g (13 mg/g-seeds). These results indicate that the Japanese horse chestnut seed is an antioxidative and antimutagenic botanical resource.