The antimutagenic and antioxidative activity for functional formula beverage

Many researches reported that Chinese herbal medicines had multi-functional health benefits. In the present study, safety and antioxidative activity of Hibiscus Sabdariffa L., Hemerocallis fulva L., Osmanthus fragrans Lour and Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch were analyzed. The extracts at different concentrations were mixed to obtain functional formula beverage. The evaluations included toxicity, mutagenicity and antimutagenicity using Ames test on Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA 102 with or without liver transferase S9 in the preincubation method. Our results showed that the functional formula beverage at the concentration of 0.25~5 mg/plate showed no cytotoxicity and mutagenicity effects on all strains, with or without S9 mixture. The functional formula beverage decreased mutagenic activity of mutagens 4-nitroquinoline-N- oxide (NQNO) and anatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) on TA100 strain. At the concentration of 1 mg/ mL, the functional formula beverage presented high DPPH free radical scavenging activity (92.9%) and the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) up to 98.6%. At the concentration of 2.5 mg/mL, the functional formula beverage which was assayed by the reducing power method showed an absorption value above 1.5. The total phenolic compounds and flavonoids of the extracts were 43.5 and 5.9 mg/g, respectively. The present results indicate that the functional formula beverage is edible and safe for consumption. Since the extracts showed high antioxidative activity, it might also be developed as functional products.