Biological Activities of Solvent Fractions from Methanolic Extract of Crataegi fructus

Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine the possibility of using Crataegi fructus as natural health food source. The research was conducted to determine the biofunctional activities of Crataegi fructus extract. Methanolic extract from Crataegi fructus was partitioned by using organic solvents, including n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water. Ethyl acetate soluble fraction was shown to have the strongest antioxidant activity (RC 50 =4.39 ㎍/㎖) among the fractions. In the anti-microbial activity assays, ethyl acetate soluble fraction was effective in bacterial inhibition, against the cases of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia, with minimum inhibitory concentrations in 125 ㎍/㎖. In the anticomplementary activity assays, water soluble fraction was the most effective exhibiting 18.4% inhibitory activity.Key words: Crataegi fructus, anticomplement activity, DPPH free radical scavenging activity † Corresponding author: Eon Hwan Shin, Dept. of Hotel Culinary Arts & Nutrition, Ulsan College, Ulsan 682-715, Korea. Tel: +82-52-230-0744, Fax: +82-52-230-0741, E-mail: sihn@uc.ac.kr