Supercritical fluid extracts of rosemary leaves exhibit potent anti-inflammation and anti-tumor effects.

Supercritical fluid SF-CO2 treatment of Rosemarinus officinalis L. fresh leaves under optimum conditions (80 degrees C at 5,000 psi) yielded 5.3% of extract supercritical fluid extraction (SFE)-80, in which five major active principles were identified by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), viz., rosmarinic acid, carnosol, 12-methoxycarnosic acid, carnosic acid, and methyl carnosate. Total phenolic content was 155.8 mg/ gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g in SFE-80, which showed 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging of 81.86% at 0.01 mg/ml. When treated in RAW 264.7, apparent dose-dependent NO inhibition occurred at dosages of 1.56 to 6.25 microg/ml, and more drastically at 12.5 and 25 microg/ml. At 0.5 to 5.0 microg/ml, SFE-80 exhibited dose-dependent viability suppression and significant tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) production in Hep 3B, whereas no effect was found in Chang liver cells. Furthermore, no effect was observed in RAW 264.7 at dosages of 3.13 to 25 microg/ml, indicating that SFE-80 exhibited a noncytotoxic character. Conclusively, rosemary can be considered an herbal anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agent.