Anti‐oxidant and Anti‐inflammatory Effects of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. Leaves Extracts

Quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) leaves are usually treated as worthless waste and little is still known about the biological activities. The aim of this study was to explore the antioxidant and immunomodulatory potential of C. quinoa leaf extracts using cold water, 95% ethanol, 50% ethanol, and methanol. The highest extraction yield was obtained by using cold water (26–37.5%). The crude 95% ethanol and methanol extracts at 50 mg/mL were found to harbor better quenching activity against DPPH radical (53% and 54%, respectively) than those at 10 and 100 mg/mL. Cold water and methanol extracts possessed higher ferrous ion‐chelating capacity (29% and 26%, respectively) at 10 mg/mL. Further, crude ethanol (95% and 50%) and methanol extracts significantly suppressed nitric oxide (NO) accumulation in RAW 264.7 cells induced by LPS (1 μg/mL) and the potentially inhibitory activity of NO production was showed in a concentration dependent manner. The results suggest that the biological activities of C. quinoa leaf extracts could be considered as natural antioxidants and anti‐inflammatory agents for functional food. Further in vitro experiments are necessary to clarify the effects of molecular mechanism involved in the process. Support or Funding Information This study was supported by the National Science Council Grant 105‐2320‐B‐468‐001 Taipei, Taiwan.