Influence of ecological factors on the phytochemical composition and bioactivity of Berberis tinctoria Lesch. wild edible fruits

Abstract

Berberis tinctoria Lesch. is an endemic wild plant with significant medicinal value in traditional ethnomedicine. Although its chemical composition has not yet been studied, tribal communities in Nilgiri-Hills (NH) and Palani-Hills (PH) use it as food and to cure various ailments. The present study aims to analyze the influence of ecological factors on the accumulation of active compounds and antioxidants in B. tinctoria fruits. The antiproliferative effect was also evaluated. Thus, two distinct geographic locations within the B. tinctoria cultivation area were selected. The contents of soil pH, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and primary and secondary active metabolites in the fruits were measured. Bioactive compounds were tentatively identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening revealed that major primary and secondary metabolites were more abundant in fruits from the NH region, especially in terms of total phenols and alkaloids. The data acquired highlight that soil physicochemical properties have a highly positive correlation with secondary metabolites content and bioactivity. In particular, NH ethyl acetate (NH-EAF) extracts showed higher antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activiy, as well as antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium. Furthermore, NH-EAF extract showed cytotoxic effects with IC50 equal to 102.85 μg/mL and 123.39 μg/mL towards Raw 264.7 and Caco-2 cell lines, respectively. The results of this study confirmed that the fruit variability of phytochemicals and biological activities is due to geographical variation and ecological factors.