Comparative Study of Phytochemical Screening and Biological Activity of Polar and Non-polar Extracts of Anthemis lorestanica from Iran

Abstract

Anthemis, which is an important genus of medicinal plants, has widespread usage in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industry. This genus belongs to the Asteraceae family with more than 210 species. Out of the 39 species known to exist in Iran, fifteen are endemic. [1]. Anthemis genera has been distributed widely through North Africa, West/Southwest and Central Asia and Europe. There are some reports considering anti- inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antispasmodic characterization of this genera. Anthemis lorestanica is an endemic plant, which is widely grown in central and west of the Iran. In this investigation, in vitro biological activities of aerial parts of methanol and chloroform extracts were studied. Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, total phenol and flavonoid content of this species was evaluated using different methods and standards. Modified Folin-Ciocalteu and Aluminum Trichloride (AlCl3) methods were used for determining total phenol and flavonoid contents of extracts. Surprisingly, chlroform extract of flower indicated the highest total phenol quanitity (79.75 mg GAE/g), however, methanol extract of stems and leaves was more rich of flavonoid compounds (45.12 mg QE/g fraction). For assesing the antioxidant activity, DPPH radical scavenging and β- carotene/linoleic assay were performed [2]. Chloroform extract did not show significant antioxidant activity in DPPH assay, whereas methanol extract exhibited moderate antioxidant activity (99.87±1.0821). In addition, methanol and chloroform extracts of stem and leave had higher inhibitation percent in β-carotene bleacing assay with 81/617% and 73.047% respectively. Both extracts did not exhibit cytotoxicity against Artemia laervea. Antimicrobial activity was much higher in chloroform extract than methanol one against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. This study showed that there are some active valuable compounds in A. lorestanica and demonstrated that many of them are less polar components.