Study of Antioxidant Activity of some Medicinal Plants Having High Content of Caffeic Acid Derivatives.

Alicja Z Kucharska,Elżbieta Rytel,Agnieszka Tajner-Czopek,Anna Sokół-Łętowska,Mateusz Gertchen,Agnieszka Kita

doi:10.3390/antiox9050412

Abstract

Recently, there has been increasing interest in medicinal plants, due to their content of health-promoting compounds, e.g., caffeic acids derivatives. Hence, the aim of this work was to study the antioxidant activity of extracts obtained from the following medicinal plants: caraway (Carum carvi L.), coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara L.), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale F.H.Wigg.), lovage (Levisticum officinale L.), tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) and white mulberry (Morus alba L.), characterized by their high content of caffeic acid derivatives. The water-ethanolic extracts were characterized on average by about 9 times higher contents of caffeic acid derivatives level than water extracts. Both in water and water-ethanolic extracts, the dominant phenolic acid was 5-CQA (5-O-caffeoylquinic acid) and 3,4-diCQA (3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid), then CCA-1 (chicoric acid isomer 1), which appeared only in water-ethanolic extracts. Extracts from dandelion contained compounds such as CTA (caftaric acid), CCA-1 (chicoric acid isomer 1) and CCA-2 (chicoric acid isomer 2), which were not detected in other plant extracts examined in this work. The water-ethanolic extracts from coltsfoot and tarragon were characterized by a high content of di-caffeoylquinic acids, especially 3,4-diCQA and 3,5-diCQA, respectively. It has been stated that there is a positive correlation between caffeic acid derivatives and antioxidant activity (radical cation scavenging activity (ABTS) and radical scavenging activity (DPPH)), especially in water-ethanolic extract of medicinal plants.

Highlights

In recent times, interest in the application of plant extracts in the food industry has continued to grow, mainly because of their antioxidant properties and associated health-promoting effects for humans
It has been found that the water-ethanolic extract from coltsfoot and tarragon was characterised by a high content of di-caffeoylquinic acids, especially 3,4-diCQA and 3,5-diCQA (51.58 mg CQA·g−1 and 18.58 mg CQA·g−1, respectively)
Extracts from dandelion contained compounds such as CTA, CCA-1 and CCA-2, which were not detected in other plant extracts examined in this work

Summary

Introduction

Interest in the application of plant extracts in the food industry has continued to grow, mainly because of their antioxidant properties and associated health-promoting effects for humans. These properties of extracts are connected to the presence of vitamins, minerals and different phenolic compounds in plants [1,2,3]. There are a number of phenolic acids, including chlorogenic acids (CGA). The chlorogenic acids group includes: caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs), dicaffeoylquinic acids (di-CQA) and other caffeic acid derivatives [7,8]. Benefits for human health associated with the increased consumption of CQAs include antiviral, hepatoprotective and hypoglycaemic effects [3,6,10]

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