Abstract
Phytochemical analysis of C. alatavicus revealed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids, amino acids and carbohydrates. The flavonoid, amino acids and carotenoid contents were higher in aerial part (1.50%, 7.49% and 9.78mg%, respectively) than in bulb (0.43%, 3.88% and 0.91 mg%, respectively). Total phenolic content (TPC), total antioxidant (TAA), 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and antibacterial activities of water, methanol, ethanol and dichloromethane extracts from aerial part and bulb were tested. TPC ranged from 13.63 to 72.29 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g extract. The maximum TAA were observed in ethanol (61.34%) and methanol extracts (46.13%) from aerial part with a high TPC (72.29 and 62.37 mgGAE/g extract, respectively). Ethanol extracts from aerial part and bulb had good scavenger of DPPH radicals (65.5% and 54.08%, respectively) with an IC50 387 and 447 µg/ml. Ethanol extract from aerial part was most effective against gram-positive bacterial strains S. aureus, B. subtilis and B. cereus. Biological activities of the extracts were correlated with the TPC. It can be deduced that ethanol and methnol extracts of C. alatavicus contains useful potent bioactive compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.
Highlights
The genus Crocus L. (Iridaceae) includes above 80 species occurring from Western Europe to western China (Harpke et al, 2013)
It was reported that high content of ascorbic acid in aerial part and in bulb is observed in summer and it twice decreases in autumn (Sedelnikova and Kukushkina, 2014)
The results obtained in this study show that DPPH scavenging activity of C. alatavicus is less than C. sativus, but higher than other species of Crocus as compared to the published experimental data
Summary
The genus Crocus L. (Iridaceae) includes above 80 species occurring from Western Europe to western China (Harpke et al, 2013). Crocus species are highly valued as ornamental plants of their colourful flowers, horticultural varieties and industrial application (Saxena, 2015). C. alatavicus is an early spring ephemeral and geophyticgeocarpic species that grows in subalpine areas of the northern and western Tianshan Mountains (Baytenov, 2001; Zhang and Tan, 2009). It is an endemic of Kazakhstan flora belonging to the group of bulbous and tuberous plant. The species mainly has potential in horticulture; it is the beautiful herb, highly rated for early blooming and easy cultivation (Ivaschenko, 2005)
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