Abstract
Herbal medicines, dietary supplements, or infusions with health promoting effects can note strong consumer demand. Hence, researchers and scientists have been increasingly focusing on the promotion of medicinal plants. In this respect, the present study has the evaluation of the biological properties of different extracts (hexane, chloroform, methanol, ultrasonic, essential oil, and supercritical) obtained from two Centaurea species (C. kroumirensis (Coss.) and C. sicula L. subsp sicula) as purpose. Antioxidative activities were assessed by in vitro assays including total phenolic content, free radical scavenging assay and ferric ion reducing power. Among the fourteen extracts examined, the highest total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant abilities were recorded in ultrasonic ethanol extracts of both Centaurea species. Additionally, these extracts exhibited a noticeable strong protective effect of the human skin fibroblast cell line (HS-68) that was exposed to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide. According to our results, the sonication with ethanol might be an ideal, rapid, and eco-friendly extraction method for obtaining a polyphenol-rich extract that exhibited high antioxidant activity. The results presented herein suggest that Centaurea species could be promoted as an antioxidant resource that could be exploited for the development of nutraceuticals or in pharmacology industry.
Highlights
Free radicals have been the concern of several researches
Polyphenols are among the major secondary metabolites in medicinal and dietary plants known to possess important biological activities antioxidant abilities [12]
The present study revealed noticeable significant variations in the antioxidant ability and total phenolic content (TPC)
Summary
Free radicals have been the concern of several researches. These free radicals are naturally produced, in cellular systems, in the form of endogenous reactive from oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) through natural metabolic reactions [1]. Several external sources (e.g., pollution, UV radiations, alcohol, smoking, and chemicals) raise oxidative stress, causing an overproduction of free radicals in the human body [2]. The endogenous antioxidant defense systems (SOD, catalase, and peroxidase) control their production and reduce the over amount of these compounds.
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