Fractionation, Phytochemical Screening and Antioxidant Activity of Different Sub-Fractions from Leaves and Flowers of Erica arborea L.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to prepare eight sub-fractions from leaves and flowers of Erica arborea L., characterize their phytochemicals constituents and investigate their potential antioxidant, in order to validate the beneficial medicinal properties of this shrub in Algeria folk medicine. Total polyphenols, flavonoids and condensed tannins contents were determined using Folin-Ciocalteu’s, aluminum chloride and vanillin reagents, respectively. The in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated by using 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl and reducing power assay. E. arborea L. contains various compounds such as polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, quinones, anthraquinones, saponins and terpenoids in different sub-fractions. All the tested extracts showed an appreciable total phenolic, flavonoids and condensed tannins contents as well as strong antioxidant capacity. The highest total phenolic and flavonoids content was found in the ethyl acetate extracts ranging from 649.38 to 944.55 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dry extract and 65.31 to 67.15 mg quercetin equivalent/g dry extract, respectively. Whereas, the highest condensed tannins content was found in the crude extract for leaves and aqueous extracts for flowers. The ethyl acetate extract of the flowers and the crude extract of leaves exhibited the better antioxidant activity by DPPH assay (IC50 =17.72 µg/mL) and reducing power assays (IC50 = 2.91 µg/mL), respectively. Our findings indicate that leaves and flowers extracts are rich in natural antioxidant substances and have good qualities in antioxidant properties and may be beneficial against diver’s disorders related to free radicals.