ABSTRACT
The present study was performed to investigate antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities of four Korean sweet potato variaties and to identify the changes in these biological activities under different cooking conditions. Total polyphenol content was 3.8-73.6 mg/g in 80% ethanol extracts of sweet potatoes. The polyphenol content was highest Sinjami variety (p < 0.05). Radical scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS(.+) was high in Sinjami (p < 0.05) and the ethanol extract from Sinjami also showed effective superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity, which decreased significantly by steaming and roasting (p < 0.05). Ethanol extracts from the four sweet potato variaties did not inhibit cancer cell growth in MCF-7 or HepG2 cells at concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 microg/mL. Of the investigated sweet potato variaties, only Sinjami exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhimurium. The antimicrobial activity of Sinjami against E. coli, St. aureus, and S. typhimurium decreased following steaming and roasting (p < 0.05). These results indicate that the Sinjami Korean sweet potato had higher polyphenol content, radical scavenging activity, SOD-like activity, and antimicrobial activity than those of the other variaties and consuming raw Sinjami might be beneficial for maintenance of biological activities.