Abstract
Lantana rhodesiensis Moldenke is a plant widely used to treat diseases, such as rheumatism, diabetes, and malaria in traditional medicine. To better understand the traditional uses of this plant, a phytochemical study was undertaken, revealing a higher proportion of polyphenols, including flavonoids in L. rhodesiensis leaf extract and moderate proportion in stem and root extracts. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was also determined using three different assays: the radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, the FRAP method (Ferric-reducing antioxidant power) and the β-carotene bleaching test. The anti-malarial activity of each extract was also evaluated using asexual erythrocyte stages of Plasmodium falciparum, chloroquine-sensitive strain 3D7. The results showed that the leaf extract exhibited higher antioxidant and anti-malarial activities in comparison with the stem and root extracts, probably due to the presence of higher quantities of polyphenols including flavonoids in the leaves. A positive linear correlation was established between the phenolic compound content (total polyphenols including flavonoids and tannins; and total flavonoids) and the antioxidant activity of all extracts. Furthermore, four flavones were isolated from leaf dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions: a new flavone named rhodescine (5,6,3′,5′-tetrahydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxyflavone) (1), 5-hydroxy-6,7,3′,4′,5′-pentamethoxyflavone (2), 5-hydroxy-6,7,3′,4′-tetramethoxyflavone (3), and 5,6,3′-trihydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxyflavone (4). Their structures were elucidated by 1H, 13CNMR, COSY, HSQC, HMBC, and MS-EI spectral methods. Aside from compound 2, all other molecules were described for the first time in this plant species.
Highlights
Different L. rhodesiensis organs were submitted to hydro-methanolic extraction and the antioxidant and anti-malarial activities of those extracts were evaluated
Leaf and stem extracts showed an interesting phenolic compound content correlated with robust antioxidant and anti-malarial activities, while the root extract displayed lower activities
As antioxidant molecules are able to neutralize reactive particles called free radicals that are associated with inflammatory and painful phenomena, the antioxidant activities of L. rhodesiensis extracts support the claim regarding the traditional use of this plant for the treatment of various affections, such as rheumatism
Summary
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).Lantana rhodesiensis (L. rhodesiensis) is an aromatic plant used in traditional medicine to treat many diseases, such as rheumatism, diabetes mellitus [1], malaria [2], cancer [3], congestive heart failure, and cardiac arrhythmia [4,5]. It is a woody herb or small shrub less than 2 m high, often with several stems, and without thorns, native to subtropical and tropical regions. L. rhodesiensis can be found in many African countries, such as Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Cameroon, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire [1,6].Several studies have already tried to correlate the traditional uses of this plant with its biological activities and chemical composition. As an example, aqueous extracts of
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