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A total of 135 methanol extracts from 48 plant families (107 species) of edible Indonesian plants were screened for their in vitro anti-tumor-promoting activities using the tumor promoter 12-O-hexadecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (HPA)induced Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) activation test in Raji cells. Examined at a concentration of 200 mg/ml, 71% of the extracts inhibited EBV activation by 30% or more. The rate is comparable to the rate observed in our previous tests of edible Thai (60%) plants and much higher than the rate (26%) observed with Japanese plants. In particular, the plant families Zingiberaceae (13/13 active) and Umbelliferae (7/8 active) are suggested to be desirable sources of effective cancer-preventive agents because of the strikingly high frequency of inhibitory activity. Thus, a high potential of edible Southeast Asian plants for cancer chemoprevention is indicated.

Abstract. Two antioxidant compounds were isolated from C. sappan L by multiple steps of column chromatography and thin layer chromatography in succession with superoxide scavenging assay as activity monitor. Structures of the two compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods as 1 ,4 -dihydro-spiro[benzofuran-3(2H),3 -[3H-2]benzopyran]-1 ,6 ,6 ,7 -tetrol (compound 1) and 3-[[4,5-dihydroxy-2(hydroxymethyl) phenyl]-methyl]-2,3-dihydro-3,6-benzofurandiol (compound 2). Characterization of antioxidant properties of these two compounds was done by determining the inhibitory effect on xanthine oxidase activity as well as scavenging effect on superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals. Our results indicated that compounds 1 and 2 inhibited xanthine oxidase activity and scavenged superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals. Compounds 1 and 2 possessed similar radical scavenging activities as ascorbic acid, and they were more effective than other well-known antioxidants such as α-tocopherol, β-carotene, and BHT. As inhibitors of free radical formation, compounds 1 and 2 were more effective than all the other antioxidants tested. In conclusion, compounds 1 and 2 can be regarded as primary antioxidants with radical-scavenging and chain-breaking activities as well as secondary antioxidants with inhibitory effect on radical generation.

This study was aimedto identify probiotic characteristics and to test the cellulolytic ability of Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus mycoides bacteria for probiotic microbe