Antioxidant and Cellular Protective Effects of Moringa oleifera Leaves Extract

: In this study, we investigated the antioxidative and cellular protective effects on HaCaT cells and erythrocytes of Moringa oleifera ( M. oleifera ) leaves extract and its fractions. All experiments were performed with 50% ethanol extract, ethyl acetate fraction and aglycone fraction of M. oleifera leaves. The free radical scavenging activity (FSC 50 ) of the extract and fractions of M. oleifera leaves were in the following order: 50% ethanol extract (77.10 µ g/mL) < ethyl acetate fraction (20.63 µ g/mL) < aglycone fraction (17.00 µ g/mL) by using the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. In Fe 3+ -EDTA/H 2 O 2 system using the luminol, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activities (total antioxidant capacity, OSC 50 ) of aglycone fraction (OSC 50 = 0.63 µ g/mL) was the strongest among all extracts, which was much higher than L-ascorbic acid (1.50 µ g/mL). In the 1 O 2 -induced cellular damage of erythrocytes, the cellular protective effects of 50% ethanol extract ( τ 50 = 46.9 min) and aglycone fraction ( τ 50 = 122.1 min) were higher than (+)- α -tocopherol ( τ 50 = 37.7 min), known as a lipophilic antioxidant at 10 µ g/mL. After cell damage induced by 400 mJ/cm 2 UVB irradiation, the cellular protective effects of ethyl acetate and aglycone fraction of M. oleifera leaves extract were showed on the concentration from 0.20 to 1.56 µ g/mL. These results suggest that M. oleifera leaves extract and its fractions can function as a natural antioxidant agent in cosmetics on skin exposed to UV radiation by protecting cellular mem-brane against ROS.