Edible plants have been used as effective ingredients in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, but studies on extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from these plants have been limited. Here, we isolated EVs from Houttuynia cordata, which has been used as a traditional remedy to treat various diseases and to relieve skin problems because it contains antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. We measured size distribution and surface charge of EVs Houttuynia cordata, because physical properties of EVs reflect their nanoscale dimensions and intrinsic properties of EVs. Similar to mammalian exosomes, the size of EVs derived from this plant also ranged from 30 to 200 nm.
We evaluated the cytotoxicity of EVs of Houttuynia cordata in human follicular dermal papillary cells (HFDPCs), and the viability of HFDPCs at a concentration of 500 µg/mL of EVs was greater than 85%. In addition, as a result of performing the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay to measure the antioxidant effect, it showed a strong antioxidant activity more than 80%, which was 1.5 times higher than that of the extract by the general method. EVs of Houttuynia cordata with antioxidant effect is expected to be used in various industrial applications including cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals.