Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the endemic Crataegus microphylla Koch subsp. malyana K. I. Chr. & Janjić from Bosnia

Abstract

Crataegus is a genus of well-known medicinal plants that comprises numerous species with various biological activities. Determination of chemical composition and antioxidant activity of some endemic species of this genus could lead to the finding potentially active compounds.This work presents the first phytochemical investigation of endemic species Crataegus microphylla Koch subsp. malyana K. I. Chr. & Janjić from Bosnia. Etanolic extracts of leaves with flowers and berries were prepared by ultrasound and Soxhlet extractions. The results of HPLC-ED analysis of plant extracts revealed the highest content of gallic acid, caffeic acid, and hyperoside in leaves with flowers prepared by Soxhlet extraction 0.04 mg GAE/g DW, 0.60 mg CA/g DW and 2.61 mg HYP/g DW, respectively. The content of total phenolic compounds, determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method, varied from 2.47 to 13.35 mg GAE/g DW. Total flavonoid content was determined using AlCl3 method. The content of flavonoids ranged 0.01-1.09 mg QE/g DW. The ABTS and DPPH assays were used for the evaluation of antioxidant activity of plant extract. The extract that showed the best antioxidant activity for DPPH antioxidant assay was extract of leaves with flowers prepared by Soxhlet extraction (IC50 0.78 mg/mL). For ABTS method extract of berries prepared by Soxhlet extraction showed the best antioxidant activity (IC50 0.39 mg/mL).