Anticancer and Antioxidant Activities of Coriolus versicolor Culture Extracts Cultivated in the Citrus Extracts

Coriolus versicolor was grown in a defined synthetic liquid medium and citrus extracts, and the culture extracts were examined for antioxidant activity, nitrite scavenging activity, and in vitro anticancer activity against HeLa, PC-3, HepG2, and A-549 cells. Whereas the culture extracts obtained from the synthetic medium and the un-inoculated citrus extract showed 60 and 22% of the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenger activity, the culture extracts obtained from the citrus extracts medium exhibited antioxidant activity up to 89%. The nitrite scavenging activity of the culture extracts obtained from the citrus extracts medium and the synthetic liquid medium, and the un-inoculated citrus extract at pH 1.2 were up to 67, 55, and 34%, respectively. The culture extract obtained from the synthetic liquid medium inhibited the growth of HeLa, PC-3, HepG2, and A-549 up to 66, 23, 18, 10% at 48 h of incubation, respectively; however, the culture extract obtained from the citrus extracts medium inhibited the growth of HeLa, PC-3, HepG2, and A-549 up to 75, 82, 55, and 82%, respectively. As a negative control, the un-inoculated citrus extract was examined in the same way and inhibited the growth of HeLa, PC-3, and HepG2 cells 20, 6, and 15% at 48 h incubation, respectively; the inhibition of A-549 cell growth was negligible. These results clearly showed that the fermentation of C. versicolor in the citrus extracts rather than in the defined synthetic medium significantly enhanced the anticancer activity, antioxidant activity, and nitrite scavenging activity.