Screening of Biological Activities in Fern Plants Native to Jeju Island

Abstract

Antioxidative activity and inhibitory activity of angiotensin I converting enzyme(ACE), aminopeptidase N(APN) and -amylase were investigated in the methanol extracts from 25 fern plants native to Jeju Island, in order to screen the plant species containing bioactive materials for functional foods or medicines. The antioxidative activity was higher in Cytomium fortunei(41.9%) and Rumohra standishii(34.1%) than in leaves of Thea sinensis(30.9%), a small tree for antioxidative beverage. Inhibitory activities of ACE and APN were relatively high in Cytomium fortunei as 26.7% and 28.2% respectively. -Amylase inhibitory activity was higher than 50% in 10 species. Particularly, Cytomium fortunei(87.4%) and Dryopteris erythrosora(71.6%) showed the inhibitory activities higher than those of other form plants. Of 25 fern plants investigated here, Cytomium fortunei showed not only the highest antioxidative activity but also the highest inhibitory activity of ACE, APN and -amylase. It suggests that Cytomium fortunei could be potentially used as a resource of bioactive materials for fuctional foods or medicines.