*Article*

#### **Antioxidant Activities of** *Solanum nigrum* **L. Leaf Extracts Determined in In Vitro Cellular Models**

**Agata Campisi 1, Rosaria Acquaviva 1, Giuseppina Raciti 1, Anna Duro 2, Milena Rizzo 1,\* and Natale Alfredo Santagati 1**


Received: 31 December 2018; Accepted: 30 January 2019; Published: 8 February 2019

**Abstract:** Several medicinal foods abound in traditional medicine with antioxidant potentials that could be of importance for the managemen<sup>t</sup> of several diseases but with little or no scientific justification to substantiate their use. Thus, the objective of this study was the assessment of the antioxidant effect of two leave extracts of *Solanum nigrum* L. (SN), which is a medicinal plant member of the *Solanaceae* family, mainly used for soup preparation in different parts of the world. Then methanolic/water (80:20) (SN1) and water (SN2) leaves extracts were prepared. The total polyphenolic content and the concentration of phenolic acids and flavones compounds were determined. In order to verify whether examined extracts were able to restore the oxidative status, modified by glutamate in primary cultures of astrocytes, the study evaluated the glutathione levels, the intracellular oxidative stress, and the cytotoxicity of SN1 and SN2 extracts. Both extracts were able to quench the radical in an in vitro free cellular system and restore the oxidative status in in vitro primary cultures of rat astroglial cells exposed to glutamate. These extracts prevented the increase in glutamate uptake and inhibited glutamate excitotoxicity, which leads to cell damage and shows a notable antioxidant property.

**Keywords:** *Solanum nigrum* L. leave extracts; natural products; antioxidant activity; functional food
