Antioxidant and anticancer effect of some pelargonium species extracts

Pelargonium species are medicinal plant species containing many polyphenolic compounds, namely flavonoids and phenolic acids. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant potential of two methanolic extracts of Pelargonium radens and Pelargonium zonale as scavenger of reactive oxygen species (superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical), and chelating the ferrous iron. Superoxide radical was generated by the reduced form of nicotinamid-adenindinucleotide-ferozinmetosulphate that reduces the tetrazolium nitrate (NBT) to a blue compound measured at 560 nm. Hydroxyl radical was generated by the Fe3+- EDTA/ascorbate Fenton system, and assayed by evaluating deoxyribose degradation using the thiobarbituric acid method. Fe2+ combined with ferrozine forms a red complex measured with maximum absorbance at 562 nm that is reduced in the presence of the vegetal extracts. The yellow tetrazolium salt [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)] is reduced to a violet compound in the presence of a living cells. The absorbance was measured at 550 nm and the cell line used for MTT test was human melanoma cells A375. In the presence of the vegetal extracts the cells viability decreased depending on the concentration. The scratch assay showed the capacity of the extracts to stimulate or reduce the rebound of the cells that were destroyed through a mechanical technique.