Considering the dearth of information regarding the medicinal properties of Luffa cylindrica, we assessed the antioxidative, antimutagenic and hyperplasia inhibitory activity of cancer cells from Luffa cylindrica extracts by employing biological and biochemical assays. Ethanol extracts of Luffa cylindrica inhibited MDA-BSA (malondialdehyde-bovine serum albumin) conjugation reaction (66.38±2.65), DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) radical production (60.13±0.42) and lipid peroxidation

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... .24). In this study, Luffa cylindrica is believed to exert possible antioxidative effects. The direct and indirect antimutagenic effects of the ethanol extracts of Luffa cylindrica were examined by the Ames test using Salmonella typimurium TA98 and TA100. The inhibitory effects on indirect and direct mutagenicity shows an weak tendency, particularly in direct mutagenicity mediated by 2-nitrofluorene in Salmonella typimurium TA98 (5.82±5.74) and in indirect mutagenicity mediated by 2-anthramine in Salmonella typimurium TA100 (5.76±2.15). The ethanol extracts of Luffa cylindrica on cancer cell hyperplasia inhibitory activity via MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay exerted cytotoxic effects on Hela cells (55.83±3.83) and MCF-7 cells (33.03±2.09), which were used in this study. Based on these results, it believed that the ethanol extracts of Luffa cylindrica have antioxidative capacities as well as hyperplasia inhibitory activity of cancer cells. Furthemore, Luffa cylindrica is a candidate for the prevention and dietetic treatment of chronic diseases and for the development of functional food.