Study of Phenol and Flavonoid Contents and Biological Activity from Aerial Parts of Hydro-alcoholic Extract of Anthemis lorestanica

Abstract

Anthemis is one of the most important genera of the family Asteraceae, consists of about 200 species. The genus Anthemis is represented by 39 species growing wild in Iran, of which 15 are endemic.Different genus of Anthemis has been known from Roman times as important members of medicinal plants with having many valuable phytochemical compounds and secondary metabolites [1, 2]. However, there is no information about phytochemical properties of Anthemis lorestanica which is one of the endemic species naturally distributed in west and central of Iran. In this study hydro-alcoholic extracts of A. lorestanica growing in west of Iran have been screened for antimicrobial, antioxidants and anticancer activity. Also, total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid (TFC) contents were assessed by using Folin-ciocalteu method and aluminum chloride colorimetric method respectively [3]. The antioxidant activity was measured by two different methods of DPPH free radical scavenging assay and β-carotene bleaching assay; moderate antioxidant activity was obtained with the IC 50 of 100± 0.543 µg/ml and inhibition percent of %61.264± 0.003 for the mentioned assays respectively. The phenol and flavonoid contents of the sample were not very high which is in agreeing with the measured antioxidant activity. TPC of ethanolic extract is much higher than the TFC one. Measuring antimicrobial and anticancer capacity of the sample showed that it is active against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Also, high anticancer activity with LC 50 <300 µg/ml in brine shrimp lethality assay was observed. Results from this study is the first report from Anthemis lorestanica which shows existing some valuable phytochemical properties and biological activities in this species.