Name: Ayat Agha
Mentor: Brian Rafferty and Adolfina Koroch
Abstract: Over many years, alternative medicinal plants have been used to treat various sicknesses. Litchi chinensis, also known as Lychee, is a fruit of the soapberry family. Native to Eastern India, Southeast Asia, and China, the fruit used to treat the common cold, kidney problems, and to help fight viruses. The fruit is known to contain high antioxidants levels (b-carotene, Vitamin C, epicatechin, rutin) with anti-inflammatory and anti-cancerous properties. The objective of this study is to prepare extracts from fruit’s coat, pulp, and seeds then evaluate their potential antioxidant and total phenolic capacity. Each part of the fruit was dried and ground to a fine powder. The powders were placed in boiling water for 15 minutes creating extracts. Total phenolic content was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The antioxidant levels were determined using the ABTS radical scavenging assay. The highest content of phenolics and antioxidant capacity was found in the coat of the fruit. In future research, the extracts from the fruit will be applied to human cell lines from both the oral cavity and the intestinal tract. We will determine at what concentration are the extracts considered cytotoxic to the cells. This will be monitored though MTT proliferation assay and LDH leakage assay. Once a viable concentration is found, we will expose our cells to begin testing the anti-inflammatory properties. We expect the coat to remain consistent in reporting high levels of anti-inflammatory properties as well.
