Abstract
Since recent times, there is a growing interest in the food industry and in preventive health care for the development and evaluation of natural antioxidants from medicinal plant materials. In the present work we have investigated the antioxidant potency of phenolic compounds of 11 indigenous wild plant species from the Algerian Atlas commonly used in Arab folk medicine for a wide range of conditions. The antioxidant activity of each phenolic extracts has been assessed by using the Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) as a chemical test, and in a dynamic way by a biological assay based on whole blood resistance to free radical aggression. Of the 11 tested plants, 2 showed prominent antioxidant activity: Anthemis arvensis and Artemisia campestris. These plants had a very high level of Trolox equivalents and induced a strong delay of free radical-induced red blood cells hemolysis compared to antioxidant references. Artemisia campestris was the best inhibitor, its effect was far stronger than that of caffeic acid and was more than three times as high as ascorbic acid and two times higher than α-tocopherol efficiency. HPLC analysis showed a good correlation between the antioxidant activity and hydroxycinnamic derivatives. These preliminary results on the in vitro protection of blood against oxidative stress emphasized the benefit of the phenolic compounds of these medicinal plants. Our results enable us to proceed towards more detailed chemical and pharmacological understanding of these plant materials and show the interest of natural antioxidant in medicinal plants for the prevention of much free radical-mediated pathology.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
De Groot H, Noll T (1987) The role of physiological oxygen partial pressures in lipid peroxidation. Theoretical considerations and experimental evidence. Chem Phys Lipids 44:209–226
Halliwel B, Gutteridge JMC (1989) Free radicals in biology and medicine, 2nd edn. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Aruoma OI (1998) Free radicals, oxidative stress, and antioxidants in human health and disease. J Am Oil Chem Soc 75:199–218
Cotgreave IA, Moldeus P, Orrenius S (1988) Host biochemical defence mechanisms against prooxidants. Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 28:189–212
Fridovich I (1995) Superoxide radical and superoxide dismutases. Annu Rev Biochem 64:97–112
Halliwell B (1996) Antioxidants in human health and disease. Annu Rev Nutr 16:33–50
Sun J, Chen Y, Li MT, Ge ZL (1998) Role of antioxidant enzymes on ionizing radiation resistance. Free Radic Biol Med 24:586–593
Halliwell B (1994) Free radicals, antioxidants, and human disease: curiosity, cause, or consequence. Lancet 344:721–724
Espin JC, Soler-Rivas C, Wichers HL (2000) Characterization of the total free radical scavenger capacity of vegetable oils and oil fractions using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical. J Agric Food Chem 48:648–656
Takahashi O, Sakamoto Y, Hiraga K (1985) Lung hemorrhagic toxicity of butylated hydroxyanisole in the rat. Toxicol Lett 27:15–25
Lindenschmidt RC, Tryka AF, Goad ME, Witschi HP (1986) The effects of dietary butylated hydroxytoluene on liver and colon tumor development in mice. Toxicology 38:151–160
Kehrer JP, DiGiovanni J (1990) Comparison of lung injury induced in 4 strains of mice by butylated hydroxytoluene. Toxicol Lett 52:55–61
Rice-Evans C, Sampson J, Bramley PM, Hollway DE (1997) Why do we expect carotenoids to be antioxidants in vivo? Free Radic Res 26:381–398
Lu YR, Foo LY (2000) Antioxidant and radical scavenging activities of polyphenols from apple pomace. Food Chem 68:81–85
Cuvelier ME, Richard H, Berset C (1995) Antioxidative activity and phenolic composition of pilot-plant and commercial extracts of sage and rosemary. J Am Oil Chem Soc 73:645–652
Pokorny J, Nquyen HTT, Korczak J (1997) Antioxidant activities of rosemary and sage extracts in sunflower oil. Nahrung 3:176–182
Singleton VL, Ross JA (1965) Colorimetry of total phenolics with phosphomolybdic-phosphotungstic acid reagent. Am J Enol Viticulture 16:144–158
Engelheardt U (2000) Flavonoids-analysis. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 41:398–399
Pellegrini N, Proteggente A, Pannala A, Yang M, Rice-Evans C (1990) Antioxidant activity applying an improved ABTS radical cation decolorization assay. Free Radic Biol Med 26:1231–1237
Zheng W, Wang S (2001) Antioxydant activity and phenolic compounds in selected Herbs. J Agric Food Chem 49:5165–5170
Rababah TM, Hettiarachchy NS, Horrax R (2004) Total phenolics and antioxidant activities of Fenugreek, Green Tea, Black tea, Grape seed, Ginger, Rosmary, Gotu Kola, and Ginkgo extracts, Vitamin E and Ter-Butylhydroquinone. J Agric Food Chem 52:5183–5186
Miliaukas G, Venskutonis PR, Van Beek TA (2004) Sreening of radical scavenging activity of some medicinal and aromatic plant extracts. Food Chem 85:231–237
Chanwitheesuk A, Teerawutgulrag A, Rakariyatham N (2005) Screening of antioxidant activity and antioxidant compounds of some edible plants of Thailand. Food Chem 92:491–497
Cai Y, Luo Q, Sun M, Corke H (2004) Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of 112 traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer. Life Sci 74:2157–2184
Ivanova D, Gerova D, Chervenkov T, Yankova T (2005) Polyphenols and antioxidant capacity of Bulgarian medicinal plants. J Ethopharmacol 96:145–150
Marbry TJ, Markham KR, Thomas MB (1970) The systematic identification of flavonoids. New York, Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag
Waterhouse AL, Price SF, McCord JD (1999) Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography methods for analysis of wine polyphenol. Methods Enzymol 299:113–121
Pellegrini N, Serafini M, Colombi B, Del Rion D, Salvatore S, Bianchi M, Brighenti F (2003) Total antioxidant capacity of plant foods, beverages and oils consumed in Italy assessed by three different in vitro assays. J Nutr 133:812–819
Javanmardi J, Stushnoff C, Locke E, Vivanco JM (2003) Food Chem 83:547–550
Garcia-Alonso M, De Pascual-Teresa S, Santos-Buelga C, Rivas-Gonzalo JC (2004) Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of Iranian Ocimum accessions. Food Chem 84:13–18
Van den Berg R, Haenen GRMM, Van den Berg H, Van der Vijgh W, Blast A (2000) The predictive value of the antioxidant capacity of structurally related flavonoids using the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay. Food Chem 70:391–395
Schofield D, Braganza JM (1996) Shortcomings of an automated assay for total antioxidant status in biological fluids. Clin Chem 42:1712–1714
Miller NJ, Rice-Evans CA, Papaganga G (1997) Antioxidant properties of phenolic compounds. Trends Plant Sci 4:152–159
Van den Berg R, Haenen GRMM, Van den Berg H, Blast A (1999) Applicability of an improved Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay for evaluation of antioxidant capacity measurements of mixtures. Food Chem 66:511–517
Girodon F, Blache D, Monget AL, Lombart M, Brunet-Lecompte P, Arnaud J, Richard MJ, Galan P (1997) Effect of a two-year supplementation with low doses of antioxidant vitamins and/or minerals in elderly subjects on levels of nutrients and antioxidant defense parameters. J Am Coll Nutr 16:357–365
Lesgards JF, Lassarre M, Stocker P, Lesgards G, Lanteaume A, Durand P, Prost M, Lehucher-Michel MP (2002) Assessment of lifestyle effects on the overall antioxidant capacity of healthy subjects. Environ Health Perspect 110:479–487
Stocker P, Lesgards JF, Vidal N, Chalier F, Prost M (2003) ESR study of a biological assay on whole blood: antioxidant efficiency of various vitamins. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1621:1–8
Arts MJTJ, Dallinga JS, Voss HP, Haenen GRMN, Bast A (2003) A critical appraisal of the use of the antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay in defining optimal antioxidant structures. Food Chem 80:409–414
Ou B, Hampsch-Woodill M, Prior RL (2001) Development and validation of an improved oxygen radical absorbance capacity using fluorescein as the fluorescent probe. J Agric Food Chem 49:4619–4626
Santos-Buelga C, Scalbert A (2000) Proanthocyanidins and Tanin-like compounds: nature, occurence, dietary and effects on nutrition and health (review). J Sci Food Agric 80:1094–1117
Chalker-Scott L, Fuchigami LH (1989) The role of phenolic compounds in plants stress responses. In: Paul HL (ed) Low-temperature stress physiology in crops. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida
Waterman PG, Mole S (1994) Analysis of Phenolic Plant Metabolites. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK
Jay M, Lumaret R (1995) Variation in the subtropical group of Dactylis glomerata L. Evidence from phenolic compound patterns. Biochem Syst Ecol 23:523–531
Sroka Z, Cisowski W (2003) Food Chem Toxicol 41:753–758
Lodovici M, Guglielmi F, Meoni M, Dolara P (2001) Effect of natural phenolic acids on DNA oxidation in vitro. Food Chem Toxicol 39:1205–1212
Szeto YT, Benzie IFF (2002) Effects of dietary antioxidants on human DNA ex vivo. Free Radic Res 36:113–118
Nardini M, Natella F, Gentili V, Felice MD, Scaccini C (1997) Effect of caffeic acid dietary supplementation on the antioxidant defense system in rat: an in vivo study. Arch Biochem Biophys 342:157–160
Rice-Evans C, Miller NJ, Paganga G (1996) Structure-antioxidant activity relationship of flavonoids and phenolic acids. Free Radic Biologie ad Med 20:933–956
Kahkonen MP, Hopia AI, Vuorela HJ, Rauha JP, Pihlaja K, Kujala TS, Heinonen M (1999) Antioxidant activity of plant extracts containing phenolic compounds. J Agric Food Chem 47:3654–3662
Shahidi F, Marian N (2003) Phenolics in food and neutraceuticals, vol. 1. CRS Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida, pp 144–150
Larson RA (1988) The antioxidants of higher plants. Phytochemistry 27:969–978
Castellucio C, Paganga G, Melikian N, Bolwell GP, Pridham J, Sampson J, Rice-Evans C (1995) Antioxidant potential of intermediates in phenylpropanoid metabolism in higher plants. FEBS Lett 368:188–192
Chen JH, Ho CT (1997) Antioxidant activities of caffeic acids and its related hydrocinnamic acid compounds. J Agric Food Chem 45:2374–2378
Heinonen IM, Meyer AS, Frenkel EN (1998) Antioxidant activity of berry phenolics on human low-density lipoprotein and liposome oxidation. J Agric Food Chem 46:4107–4112
Dziedzic SZ, Hudson BJF (1983) Polyhydroxychalcones and flavanones as antioxidants for edible foods. Food Chem 12:205–212
Liens EJ, Ren S, Bui HH, Wang R (1999) Quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis of phenolic antioxidant. Free Radic Biol Med 26:285–294
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Djeridane, A., Yousfi, M., Nadjemi, B. et al. Screening of some Algerian medicinal plants for the phenolic compounds and their antioxidant activity. Eur Food Res Technol 224, 801–809 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-006-0361-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-006-0361-6