Antioxidant, enzyme-inhibitory and antitumor activity of the alimurgic dietary plant Muscari comosum (L.) Mill.

The pharmaceutical properties of the alimurgic species Muscari comosum are mostly unknown. In this experiment, total extracts from bulbs of M. comosum were tested for a) free radical scavenging activity, b) enzymatic inhibition of α-amylase and lipase, and c) inhibition of the growth of breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells. Three treatments were considered: bulbs boiled for 15 min (BB), bulbs steam-cooked for 15 min (SB), and raw bulbs (RB). The polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of the extracts were related to the inhibition of pancreatic lipase and α-amylase, whose activities showed a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.28, 2.14 and 3.22 mg/mL for lipase, and 0.16, 0.73 and 0.69 mg/mL for α-amylase in RB, SB and BB, respectively. The proliferation of MCF-7 cells was inhibited by RB and BB extracts. M. comosum could be an excellent plant for the development of anti-obesity drugs, also able to prevent cancer.