Phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of Lavandula dentate extracts

Le but de ce travail consiste à étudier la composition des huiles essentielles et des polyphénols des racines, des tiges et des feuilles de la Lavande dentée et d’évaluer leurs potentialités antioxydantes. L’analyse et la quantification des huiles essentielles a montré que les feuilles sont les plus riches en huiles essentielles (0.89 mg/g MS) suivies par les tiges (0.68 mg/g MS) et enfin les racines (0,23 mg/g MS). Le constituant majeur de l’HE des racines est: le β-ocimène. D’autre part, le limonène représente le composé majeur de l’HE des tiges. Quant à l’HE des feuilles, elle est dominée par le camphre. D’autre part, nos résultats ont montré que les organes de la lavande montrent des teneurs en polyphénols totaux élevées et variables selon l’organe étudié. En effet, les extraits des racines sont caractérisés par le contenu le plus élevé en polyphénols. D’autre part, l’étude de l’activité antioxydante des extraits des différents organes a indiqué que les extraits de la racine sont particulièrement les plus actifs et que leur analyse par RP-HPLC a montré que ces derniers sont riches essentiellement en acide rosmarinique. Finalement, les extraits de la Lavande dentée et particulièrement ceux de la racine peuvent être considérés comme des sources alternatives d’antioxydants naturels puissants qui peuvent être utilisés en industrie agroalimentaire et pharmaceutique.In this study, Lavandula dentata organs (roots, stems and leaves) were investigated for their essential oils, total phenolics, flavonoids contents and antioxidant activities. Essential oil yields were 0.22% in roots, 0.68 % in stems and 0.89 % in flowers. Major components of the oils were β-ocimene, limonene and 1,8 cineol in roots, stems and leaves and flowers, respectively. In all organs, total phenolics content ranged from 42.57 to 16.17 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram of dry weight (mg GAE/g DW).The antioxidant activities of Lavandula dentata extracts obtained from the three organs were assessed using two tests (DPPH and reducing power). The root extract was strongly effective as DPPH radical scavenger and reducing agent. Thus, the identification of individual target polyphenolic compounds of roots was performed by RP-HPLC. The major phenolic compound detected in roots was rosmarinic acid. This activity was high enough for the plant to be a new and natural source of strongly antioxidant substances for use as natural additives in food and pharmaceutical industry

Antioxidant and antimicrobial phenolic compounds from extracts of cultivated and wild-grown Tunisian Ruta chalepensis

The antioxidant and antibacterial activities of phenolic compounds from cultivated and wild Tunisian Ruta chalepensis L. leaves, stems, and flowers were assessed. The leaves and the flowers exhibited high but similar total polyphenol, flavonoid, and tannin content. Moreover, two organs showed strong, although not significantly different, total antioxidant activity, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging ability, and reducing power. Investigation of the phenolic composition showed that vanillic acid and coumarin were the major compounds in the two organs, with higher percentages in the cultivated organs than in the spontaneous organs. Furthermore, R. chalepensis extracts showed marked antibacterial properties against human pathogen strains, and the activity was organ- and origin-dependent. Spontaneous stems had the strongest activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. From these results, it was concluded that domestication of Ruta did not significantly affect its chemical composition and consequently the possibility of using R. chalpensis organs as a potential source of natural antioxidants and as an antimicrobial agent in the food industry

Phytochemical composition and antioxidant activities of different aerial parts extracts of Ferula communis L.

The present study aimed to assess antioxidant activities of three organs (flower, fruit, and stem) extracts of Tunisian Ferula (F.) communis. Various experimental models were used to characterize the antioxidant activities in vitro as well as on ROS-induced fluorescence using dichlorofluorescein technique from phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-stimulated human myeloid cell line HL-60. Results showed that the antioxidant activities varied considerably with organs. Thus, flower exhibited higher DPPH-scavenging ability, reducing and chelating power than stem and fruit. Also, antioxidant capacities using ORAC method and a cell-based assay showed that fruit and stem exhibited statistically similar antioxidant activities. Moreover, F. communis contains high amounts of flavonoids with various health benefits attributed to their antioxidant potential. Likewise, to obtain biologically relevant information, the antioxidant activities of the extracts were evaluated on cellular models implicating the antioxidant activities; this test generally showed that F. communis flower extracts have the highest antioxidant capacities correlated to the highest total phenolic content. The identification of phenolic compounds in F. communis extracts using RP-HPLC revealed that resorcinol, ferulic, and syringic acids together with coumarin were the major molecules. © 2018 Società Botanica Italian

Comparative assessment of phytochemical profiles and antioxidant properties of Tunisian and Egyptian anise (<i>Pimpinella anisum</i> L.) seeds

<p>Anis (<i>Pimpinella anisum</i> L.) seeds obtained from two geographic origins Tunisia (TAS) and Egypt (EAS) were studied regarding their biochemical composition and the antioxidant potential of their extracts. The results showed that the highest value of oil was detected with TAS compared to that of EAS ones. Ten (10) fatty acids were identified for the two locations and petroselinic acid was the most prevalent in oil seeds and interestingly, TAS displayed a significantly higher level of this acid than EAS. Besides, TAS exhibited slightly higher essential oil yield than the Egyptian variety and that <i>trans</i>-anethole was the dominant for the two provenances. In both accessions, the highest total phenolic, flavonoid and tannin content was obtained with ethyl acetate fraction. Therefore, TAS exhibited higher chelating and reducing powers than EAS which may be due to a slightly different phenolic composition between the two accession seed extracts. The phenolic compositions of TAS and EAS revealed that ethyl acetate extracts showed higher proportions of naringin, chlorogenic acid and rosmarinic acid. However, ethanol extracts were richer in larcitrin, rosmarinic acid and cirsimartin. The overall results revealed that aniseeds might constitute a novel source of natural antioxidants and could be used as food additive.</p

Comparison of the volatile antioxidant contents in the aqueous and methanolic extracts of a set of commercial spices and condiments

Spices are of great interest because their aromatic properties and to preserve food, with no or low nutritional value, and also as components of a healthy diet. The composition of the methanolic and aqueous extracts of commercial samples of Basil, Cinnamon powder, Cinnamon sticks, Clove, Cumin, Turmeric, Ginger, Nutmeg, Oregano, Rosemary and Thyme was studied as a first step in the relation of their antioxidant activities with the composition. Methods used were Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Extracts were prepared with an amount of the sample suspended in ultrapure water preheated at 100 oC or methanol at 60 ºC, stirring at room temperature and filtering; for GC-MS the extracts were dried and re-dissolved in methanol. To solve the problem in GC-MS with the flash-points of some compounds, both techniques have been combined. The contents in antioxidants of the different species are compared finding spices having much higher antioxidant contents in the methanolic extract than in water, other with aqueous extracts much rich in antioxidants than the alcoholic extracts, and spices with low antioxidant content in both extracts. For Clove, Turmeric, Ginger, Cinnamon, Rosemary and Cumin, it is recommended the use of lipid and/or alcoholic fractions for the food preparation. For Basil, Oregano, Thyme and Nutmeg, to extract most of their antioxidant content only water must be used. Knowledge of the composition in antioxidants can aid the food industry in the design of healthy foods and food preparations

Nutraceutical Potential of Apiaceae

Apiaceae family is large, with over 3.000 species worldwide cultivated for many purposes. Some plants in this family such as carrots, parsley, parsnip and celery are common vegetable crops, while other members like anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, fennel, lovage, angelica and dill are famous for their medicinal and aromatic properties. Usage of these plants is very popular in everyday diet because of their documented health benefits. Apiaceae are a very important source of phytochemicals – chemicals with biological activity. However, phytochemicals are non-nutritive plant chemicals, also called nutraceuticals. They are widely used for prevention, treatment or cure of conditions or diseases. Bioactive compounds with nutraceutical potential are polyphenolic compounds, polyacetylenes and terpenoids. The aim of this review is to represent selected plants of Apiaceae family currently used as nutraceuticals and describe their nutritional benefits