There is increasing interest in natural food colorants like carotenoids and anthocyanins with functional properties. Red sorghum bran is known as a rich source for anthocyanins. The anthocyanin contents extracted from red sorghum bran were evaluated by biochemical analysis. Among the three solvent system used, the acidified methanol extract showed a highest anthocyanin content (4.7 mg/g of sorghum bran) followed by methanol (1.95 mg/g) and acetone (1 mg/g). Similarly, the highest total flavonoids (143 mg/g) and total phenolic contents (0.93 mg/g) were obtained in acidified methanol extracts than methanol and acetone extracts. To study the health benefits of anthocyanin from red sorghum bran, the total antioxidant activity was evaluated by biochemical and molecular methods. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in acidified methanol extracts of anthocyanin in dose-dependent manner. The antioxidant activity of the red sorghum bran was directly related to the total anthocyanin found in red sorghum bran.

Breast cancer is a leading cause of death in women worldwide both in the developed and developing countries. Thus effective treatment of breast cancer with potential antitumour drugs is important. In this paper, human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 has been employed to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of red sorghum bran anthocyanin. The present investigation showed that red sorghum bran anthocyanin induced growth inhibition of MCF-7 cells at significant level. The growth inhibition is dose dependent and irreversible in nature. When MCF-7 cells were treated with red sorghum bran anthocyanins due to activity of anthocyanin morphological changes were observed. The morphological changes were identified through the formation of apoptopic bodies. The fragmentation by these anthocyanins on DNA to oligonuleosomal-sized fragments, is a characteristic of apoptosis, and it was observed as concentration-dependent. Thus, this paper clearly demonstrates that human breast cancer cell MCF-7 is highly responsive by red sorghum bran anthocyanins result from the induction of apoptosis in MCF-7 cells.

Reactive oxygen (ROS) species have been known as a contributory factor in the etiology of cancer and various neurodegenerative diseases. ROS are produced as a result of normal metabolic processes occurring in the human body. Therapy using free radical scavengers have the potential to prevent, delay many disorders. The crude extracts and natural pure compounds from plants are reported to have antioxidant activity. Keeping this in mind, the chloroform fraction (KCF) and ethyl acetate fraction (KEA fraction) isolated from leaves of Koelreuteria paniculata (Sapindaceae) was investigated for its genoprotective potential against the DNA damage induced by Fenton's reagent in pUC18 plasmid DNA. Further, the fractions were examined for their superoxide anion radical scavenging, 2, 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging and reducing power potential. The fractions significantly protected the DNA damage induced by the hydroxyl radicals generated by Fenton's reagent.

This study was designed to evaluate the peroxyl radical scavenging capacity and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) protective effect of extract/fractions of Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm. (Golden rain tree) in lipid peroxidation assay and calf thymus DNA protection assay. The leaves of the plant were extracted with different solvents in the order of increasing polarity to obtain methanol extract (KME), chloroform fraction (KCF), ethyl acetate fraction (KEF), n-butanol fraction (KBF) and aqueous fraction (KAF). All the extract/fractions possessed the potential to inhibit lipid peroxidation and 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO)-induced genotoxicity. KEF showed the highest peroxyl radical scavenging activity (80.8 %) with IC 50 of 36.44 µg/ml while KAF showed the lowest activity (43.20 %). In DNA protection studies, all the extract/fractions showed potential to protect calf thymus DNA against 4-NQO induced DNA damage except KCF which showed slight protection at highest concentration tested (250 µg/ml).

No abstract