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The study was carried out to investigate the effects of water or ethanol extracts of cactus and ginger on specific scavenging activity against hydroxyl radical and superoxide, and on lipid levels in mouse plasma. In ammonium thiocyanate assay, all extracts, tested at concentrations up to 2㎎/mL, were estimated to have a strong ability to scavenge the reactive oxidants. In deoxyribose assay, the cactus extracts efficiently scavenged hydroxyl radical, while ginger extracts were less effective. Moreover, both cactus and ginger extracts were shown to have pro-oxidant effect at low concentration, while the effects were not seen at high concentration of extracts in deoxyribose system. The specific scavenging activities against superoxide were generally estimated to have dose-dependent activity in all extracts. In cholesterol assay, the amounts of total plasma cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) in mouse plasma were statistically reduced in the groups treated with cactus extracts, while high density lipoprotein (HDL) was not incresased, compared to those of control mice which were administered only 1 mL of PBS without the extracts. These results indicate that both cactus and ginger extracts could play positive roles in scavenging reactive oxidants as natural antioxidants. Moreover, supplementation of cactus has a beneficial effect on blood lipids in this condition.
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