Abstract
Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) dried flowers contain a group of interesting biologically active compounds such as sesquiterpenes, flavonoids, coumarins, vitamins, phenolic acids and glucosides. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to characterize the composition in bioactive compounds (specialized metabolites) present in water and ethanol extracts of chamomile flowers, together with monitoring the impact of different extraction techniques (conventional vs. ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE)) on the parameters under investigation. UAE treatment significantly decreased the extraction time of bioactive compounds from herbal material. Polyphenolic compounds content and antioxidant capacity were significantly higher in UAE extracts. Moreover, solvent type had a significant impact on the specialized metabolites content, while the highest vitamin C and polyphenols content were recorded in 50% ethanol (v/v) extracts. Optimization of basic extraction factors: solvent type, temperature and technique is crucial for obtaining the extracts with the highest content of specialized metabolites and antioxidant capacity.
Highlights
Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla, synonym Matricaria recutita (L.) Rauschert) is a popular aromatic, medicinal herb mostly used in therapeutic purposes
Aromatic herbs are not characterized by a high content of organic acids, so low levels of total acid (TA) content determined in chamomile extracts regardless of the used solvent, extraction method or time is expected (Figure 1A)
Comparing the impact of treatment method on investigated physicochemical properties, both of water and ethanol based extracts, could be concluded that the ultrasonic treatment had a positive effect on the total acid content, while other properties such as the density, total soluble solids and pH-value did not significantly change given the applied extraction method
Summary
Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla, synonym Matricaria recutita (L.) Rauschert) is a popular aromatic, medicinal herb mostly used in therapeutic purposes. Dried flowers and essential oil are the most widely used products mainly because it has multiple medicinal properties from antiinflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial and antispasmic to sedative [1]. Mentioned varieties strongly differs both in morphological and chemical composition primarily in the content of biologically active compounds including essential oils and several polyphenols [2,3]. Aqueous and alcoholic (methanol and ethanol) extracts of chamomile are prepared from dried flowers and used as foods, like herbal teas or like tinctures mostly in pharmaceutical and medicinal purposes. Currently the most popular chamomile product in use is a form of herbal tea consumed over million cups per day [3,4]. More recent studies highlight a significant anticancer properties of chamomile extracts including anti-proliferative and apoptotic activity in various human cancer cells with minimal effect on normal cells [5,6,7]
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