2005 Volume 28 Issue 9 Pages 1782-1785
It is currently accepted that the consumption of fruit-derived antioxidants such as vitamin C, carotenoids, and flavonoids provides a preventive effect against cardiovascular disease. The purpose of the present study was to investigate potential cardiovascular protective properties of aqueous and 70% ethanol extracts from kiwifruit by analyzing the antioxidative, antihypertensive, hypocholesterolemic, and fibrinolytic activities in vitro. Aqueous and 70% ethanol extracts at 50 mg/ml showed DPPH-radical scavenging activities of 72.31% and 70.75%, respectively. Total antioxidant activity in linoleic acid emulsion was 85—88% at 10 mg/ml and 96—98% at 50 mg/ml of kiwifruit extract. Inhibitory activities against angiogensin I-converting enzyme of kiwifruit extracts were 21—26% at 10 mg/ml and 46—49% at 50 mg/ml, and inhibitory activities on HMG-CoA reductase were 13—14% at 10 mg/ml and 19—30% at 50 mg/ml. Fibrinolytic activity of kiwifruit was also observed at a high concentration of 100 mg/ml in both aqueous and 70% EtOH extracts. Based on our results, kiwifruit have potential cardiovascular protective properties in vitro.
