Chemical Characteristics and Antioxidant Activity of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi L. Spreng. at the Southern Border of the Geographical Range of the Species in Europe.

Piotr Sugier,Andrzej Plak,Sylwia Okoń,Łukasz Sęczyk,Joanna Czarnecka,Małgorzata Wójcik,Danuta Sugier,Rafał Krawczyk

doi:10.3390/molecules26247692

Abstract

The bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi L. Spreng.) is a source of herbal material—bearberry leaf (Uvae ursi folium), which is highly valued and sought by pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. For many years, leaves of this plant have been used in traditional medicine as a diuretic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory agent for various diseases of the urogenital tract. The bearberry has also been proposed as a natural antioxidant additive due to the high contents of phenolic compounds in its leaves. The study was focused on characterization of the basic phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of extracts derived from bearberry leaves collected from plants located at the southern border of the geographical range of the species in Europe. The investigated herbal material is characterized by a different chemical profile compared to the chemical profiles of bearberry found in other parts of the continent. Bearberry extracts from plants growing in two different habitat types—heathlands and pine forests showed a wide range of variation, especially in the concentration of hyperoside, corilagin, and methylartutin and the total flavonoid contents. In addition to arbutin, bearberry can be a valuable source of phenolic compounds, which are mainly responsible for the antioxidant properties of extracts. The high content of phenols and high values of antioxidant parameters indicate a high potential of bearberry leaves to be used as a powerful natural source of antioxidants in herbal preparations. Therefore, the A. uva-ursi populations can be a source of plant material for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries.

Highlights

Many Ericaceae plant species have a long history of ethnopharmacological use and are important for medicinal and pharmacological purposes [1]
The main phenolic compound of bearberry found in the extracts was arbutin; other valuable phenolic compounds such as methylarbutin, penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose, hyperoside, picein and corilagin were determined as well
The extracts from bearberry leaves collected from the heathland population were characterized by significantly higher content of flavonoids and hyperoside and significantly lower content of methylarbutin and corilagin in comparison with the pine forest population

Summary

Introduction

Many Ericaceae plant species have a long history of ethnopharmacological use and are important for medicinal and pharmacological purposes [1]. This family is represented, e.g., by the bearberry Spreng.), which has been used in folk medicine for centuries as a rich source of raw material abundant in secondary metabolites This plant species is an evergreen dwarf shrub. It can be found at high and mid-latitudes in Europe, Asia, and North America. This circumpolar plant reaches the southern limit of its compact range in the south of Poland [2]. In Central Europe, it occurs mainly in the lowlands—in pine forests on podsolic soils and heathlands situated on sandy dunes [6]

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