Anatomical and Phytochemical Characteristics of Different Parts of Hypericum scabrum L. Extracts, Essential Oils, and Their Antimicrobial Potential

Kubra Nalkiran Ergin,Betul Demirci,Gamze Göger,Hayri Duman,Songul Karakaya,Oksana Sytar

doi:10.3390/molecules27041228

Kubra Nalkiran Ergin, Betul Demirci + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27041228

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Abstract

Hypericum (Hypericaceae) is a genus that comprises a high number of species around the world. In this study, the roots, aerial parts, flowers, fruits, and aerial parts with flowers from Hypericum scabrum were macerated separately by methanol and water and then fractionated by different solvents of, such as ethyl acetate, n-hexane, butanol, dichloromethane, aqueous residue sub-extracts, and ethnobotanical use. All the extracts, sub-extracts and essential oils of H. scabrum were investigated for the first time in detail for their antimicrobial, total phenolics, and antioxidant activities. Anatomical structures of the root, stem, leaf, upper and lower leaf surface, stamen, sepal, and petal of H. scabrum were examined. The biochemical layout of essential oils was determined by GC and GC/MS. The antioxidant activity was determined by free radical scavenging activity (by DPPH). Antimicrobial activity was applied against Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 19659, and C. tropicalis ATCC 750 using microdilution methods. The essentials of the aerial parts, flower, and fruit are characterized by the presence of monoterpene hydrocarbons, whereas roots oil include alkanes. The GC-FID and GC-MS analysis showed that major components of roots, aerial parts, flowers, and fruits oils were undecane (66.1%); α-pinene (17.5%), γ-terpinene (17.4%), and α-thujene (16.9%); α-pinene (55.6%), α-thujene (10.9%), and γ-terpinene (7.7%); α-pinene (85.2%), respectively. The aerial part sub-extracts indicated a greater level of total phenolics and antioxidant potential. The n-hexane sub-extracts (from aerial part, flower, and aerial part with flower) showed the best activity against B. subtilis, with 39.06 µg/mL MIC value. The presented research work indicates that H. scabrum can be a novel promising resource of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds.

Highlights

The medicinal use of Hypericum species dates back to 2400 years ago [1]
The aerial part sub-extracts indicated a greater level of total phenolics and antioxidant potential
If we look at the antioxidant studies in the literature, Heshmati et al compared the DPPH radical scavenging capacity of acetone, ethyl acetate, ethanol, methanol, water extracts, and essential oil of the flowers of the plant

Summary

Introduction

The medicinal use of Hypericum species dates back to 2400 years ago [1]. Hypericum scabrum L. belongs to the genus Hypericum (family Hypericaceae), which is known by the names of ‘mayasıl otu, kepir otu, kızılcık otu’ among the people in Anatolia, Turkey [2].H. scarbum is widespread in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan [3]. Hypericum scabrum L. belongs to the genus Hypericum (family Hypericaceae), which is known by the names of ‘mayasıl otu, kepir otu, kızılcık otu’ among the people in Anatolia, Turkey [2]. Turkey is a large center for the Hypericum genus [4]. In the Turkey region, H. scabrum can grow in many cities, such as Hakkari, Siirt, Kastamonu, Elazig, Erzurum, Sivas, Van, Bayburt, Antalya, and Ankara [2,5]. It is used by the public against constipation and hemorrhoids, including the infusion processed from its flowering branches [5,6]

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