Oxidative stress is a key player in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Dietary antioxidants may have beneficial effects on hypertension and the cardiovascular risk factors. Cereal grains and legumes are a good source of bioactive phenolic compounds, which play significant roles in many physiological and metabolic processes. This study examined the antioxidant and anti-hypertensive activity of ethanol extracts from cereal grains and legumes. The total polyphenol content of the extracts ranged from 3.71±0.08 to 238.57±2.14 mg gallic acid equivalent/g residue. Among the cereal grains and legumes, sorghums had the highest antioxidant activity, followed by adzuki beans. The angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitory activity was the highest in the sorghum extracts (51∼65%), followed by adzuki bean (35%) and Italian millet (31%). In EA.hy926 endothelial cells, the protective activity against H2O2-induced oxidative stress was highest in the sorghum extracts. Pretreatment with the sorghum extracts significantly decreased H2O2-induced reactive oxygen species and significantly increased nitric oxide level in EA.hy926 cells. A strong correlation was observed between antioxidant and anti-hypertensive activities (r2＝0.356∼0.774). These results indicate that sorghum may prove to be a promising functional food for the prevention and treatment of hypertension.

Keywords: cereal grains, legumes, antioxidant, anti-hypertension, correlation