Abstract
Investigating the polyphenolic profile of natural Rosmarinus officinalis and Ocimum basilicum populations may reveal essential compounds that have biological activities. Natural populations of R. officinalis and O. basilicum in Northern Riyadh were investigated by HPLC-DAD analyses. Several polyphenols, including rosmarinic acid, gentisic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, rutoside, and others, out of 38 screened were confirmed. Rosmarinic acid was the major polyphenol in both of R. officinalis and O. basilicum. R. officinalis methanolic leaf extracts contained other phenols such as gentisic acid while O. basilicum contained also 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and rutoside as well as others. R. officinalis showed higher antioxidant activities than O. basilicum using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and β-carotene bleaching assays. These higher activities are associated with a higher composition of rosmarinic acid in leaf extracts. The antioxidant activities of O. basilicum were attributed to identified phenols of rosmarinic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, and rutoside. There were antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities of leaf extracts, as well as identified polyphenols, against several cancer cells. These activities were attributed to the accumulation of necrotic and apoptotic cells in treated cancer cells with leaf extracts as well as identified polyphenols. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of leaf extracts were mainly attributed to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and rutoside in O. basilicum and rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid in R. officinalis. This study proved that R. officinalis and O. basilicum natural populations might be considered as promising sources of natural polyphenols with biological activities.
Highlights
Polyphenols are important plant secondary metabolites that are used for the control of aging as antioxidants [1] and the control microbes as antibacterial and antifungal agents [2,3]
R. officinalis showed higher antioxidant activities than O. basilicum using DPPH, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and β-carotene bleaching assay. These higher activities are associated with a higher composition of rosmarinic acid in leaf extracts
The antioxidant activities of O. basilicum were attributed to identified phenols of rosmarinic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, and rutoside
Summary
Polyphenols are important plant secondary metabolites that are used for the control of aging as antioxidants [1] and the control microbes as antibacterial and antifungal agents [2,3]. The biological activities of polyphenols as antioxidants are related to the ability to scavenge free radicals and the modulation of metal chelation reactions [4,9]. Polyphenols activate the detoxification enzymes and reduce free radicals [4,9]. The antiproliferative and apoptotic activities of polyphenols against cancer cells is attributed to the control of cell cycle arrest, as well as the molecular regulation of cancer related genes [4,9,10,11]. The Lamiaceae family contains dozens of medicinal plants with important economic output, including Rosmarinus officinalis and Ocimum basilicum.
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