Phytochemical composition and biological activity of Neurada procumbens L. growing in southern Algeria

Abstract

Neurada procumbens L. (Neuradaceae) is one of the most popular plants in the province of El-Oued in south-eastern Algeria. This study aimed to determine the antioxidant effectiveness of the 80% methanol extract of the aerial parts of the plant via the study of three-way antioxidant activity namely, 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), Catalase activity (CAT), and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity assays in addition to examining its inhibitory capacity on the proliferation of hepatic (HepG2) and colon cancer (HCT116) cells. Chemical profiling of the major constituents of its extract was tentatively done using LC-MS in addition to quantitative determination of phenols, flavonoids, and chemical mineral elements by Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry technique (ICP-OES). Practical applications UHPLC/MS profiling resulted in the tentative identification of 14 compounds including fatty acids, flavones, flavonoids and sesquiterpenes. ICP-OES technique showed that Algerian N. procumben represents a potential source for essential macronutrient like Na, Fe, Ca, and K, it is also a rich source of phenolic compounds evidenced by its high total phenol content (56.23 mg GAE/g extract) and high total flavonoid content (30.10 mg RE/g extract). It also revealed a significant antioxidant potential in DPPH, CAT, and ABTS assays with EC50 equals to 75.84 mg TE/g extract, 136.55 mg eq. AG/g and 92.06 mg TE/g extract, respectively, with no cytotoxic effect on hepatic and colon cancer cells revealing its relative safety. Thus, it can be concluded that N. procumbens L., acts as a promising source of antioxidants owing to its richness with phenolic compounds.