Antioxidant antimutagenic and chemopreventive activities of a phyto-extract mixture derived from various vegetables, fruits, and oriental herbs

A Phyto-extract mixture derived from various vegetables, fruits, and oriental herbs was screened for antioxidant, antimutagenic, and chemopreventive activities. The phyto-extract mixture exhibited greater scavenging effects on oxygen free radicals and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radicals than that of green tea, indicating its potential to reduce cancer-causing DNA mutation induced by highly reactive free radicals. The extracts showed a strong antimutagenic activity for the mutants induced by treatment of tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and benzo[alpha]pyren (B[alpha]P), exceeding that of the standard antimutagen, catechin. The phyto-extract mixture also showed chemopreventive activity, efficiently reducing NNK-induced lung cancer in A/J mice.