{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,24]],"date-time":"2025-11-24T12:48:40Z","timestamp":1763988520662,"version":"3.45.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]],"date-time":"2025-11-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763683200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Carrot (Daucus carota L.) is a widely consumed root vegetable, yet its aerial parts, including leaves and stems, are typically discarded as agricultural by-products, despite their potential biological value. This study comparatively evaluated the antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties of carrot aerial and root parts extracted using hot water or 50% ethanol. Four extracts were prepared: aerial part hot-water (AP-W), aerial part ethanol (AP-E), underground part hot-water (UP-W), and underground part ethanol (UP-E). The total phenolic content (TPC, expressed as gallic acid equivalents; GAE) and total flavonoid content (TFC, expressed as quercetin equivalents; QE) were quantified using the Folin\u2013Ciocalteu and aluminum nitrate colorimetric methods, respectively. Antioxidant capacities were determined by ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging assays, cytotoxicity was assessed in RAW 264.7 macrophages via the MTT assay, nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured using the Griess reaction, and cytokine (IL-6, TNF-\u03b1) concentrations were analyzed by ELISA. Among the extracts, AP-E exhibited the highest TPC (28.3 \u00b1 0.3 \u00b5g GAE\/mg extract) and TFC (18.2 \u00b1 2.3 \u00b5g QE\/mg extract), corresponding to the strongest ABTS (92.3 \u00b1 2.5%) and DPPH (72.4 \u00b1 7.3%) radical scavenging activities. None of the extracts demonstrated cytotoxicity below 400 \u00b5g\/mL. Under basal conditions, AP-W and UP-W significantly enhanced NO production (9.5 \u00b1 1.3 \u00b5M and 7.7 \u00b1 1.2 \u00b5M, respectively), while co-treatment with LPS markedly reduced NO levels in AS-E (2.3 \u00b1 0.2 \u00b5M). Consistently, AP-W and UP-W elevated cytokine secretion (IL-6: 3462.1 \u00b1 349.7 pg\/mL and 1749.4 \u00b1 55.4 pg\/mL; TNF-\u03b1: 15,245.2 \u00b1 771.0 pg\/mL and 14,719.1 \u00b1 329.8 pg\/mL), whereas AP-E (400 \u00b5g\/mL) significantly suppressed IL-6 (3938.6 \u00b1 268.7 pg\/mL) and TNF-\u03b1 (11,869.0 \u00b1 721.1 pg\/mL) under LPS-stimulated conditions. Collectively, these results indicate that hot-water extracts of carrot parts exert immunostimulatory activity, whereas ethanol extracts possess potent anti-inflammatory potential. The aerial parts of carrots, often regarded as waste biomass, exhibit comparable or superior bioactivities to the roots, underscoring their potential utility as promising functional food ingredients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods14233993","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]],"date-time":"2025-11-21T14:17:23Z","timestamp":1763734643000},"page":"3993","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Comparative Evaluation of the Antioxidant and Immunomodulatory Activities of Carrot (Daucus carota L.) Aerial Parts and Roots Using Different Extraction Methods"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Sung-Sook","family":"Choi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Duksung Women\u2019s University, Seoul 01370, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jae-Eun","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School of Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Kyunghee University, Yongin 17104, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-3992-3195","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyo-Jun","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School of Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Kyunghee University, Yongin 17104, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4741-7455","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kyung-Ae","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Anyang University, Anyang 14028, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jff.2015.12.004","article-title":"Characterization of Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Red Cabbage and Purple Carrot Extracts","volume":"21","author":"Mizgier","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. 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