Volume 13, Issue 3, November 2015, Pages 518–526
Saoussen Benzarti1, Helmi Hamdi2, Imen Lahmayer3, Wala Toumi4, Amel Kerkeni5, Khadija Belkadhi6, and Houcine Sebei7
1 Research Laboratory of Agricultural Production Systems and Sustainable Development, College of Agriculture, the University of Carthage, 1121 Mograne, Zaghouan, Tunisia
2 Water Research and Technology Center, University of Carthage, P.O.Box 273, Soliman 8020, Tunisia
3 Higher School of Agriculture at Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
4 Higher School of Agriculture at Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
5 Research Laboratory of Agricultural Production Systems and Sustainable Development, College of Agriculture, the University of Carthage, 1121 Mograne, Zaghouan, Tunisia
6 Free University of Tunis, Khaireddine Pacha Av., 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
7 Higher School of Agriculture at Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Natural products continue to play a significant role in drug discovery and development processes, and many plants have already provided valuable clues for potentially bioactive compounds. Additionally, it has become evident that significant health risks and benefits are associated with dietary food choice. Studies conducted in the past few years have demonstrated that quince (Cydonia oblonga Miller) is a good, safe, and low-cost natural source of different classes of interesting metabolites. In particular, phenolic compounds have application as preventive or therapeutic agents in diseases in which free radicals are involved. Despite the fact that quince fresh or processed fruit properties have attracted most attention, this study focused on antioxidant activities of phenolic compounds extracted from leaves of the Tunisian local variety. Accordingly, chromatographic characterization of methanol extract revealed the existence of nine compounds corresponding to phenolic acids and flavonoids. However, only six compounds could be systematically identified namely, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, quercetin-3-O-galactoside, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-glycoside, and kaempferol-3-O-glucoside. Total phenolic compounds and flavonoids showed respectable content as compared to common medicinal plants: 52.5 mg/g dw and 4 mg/g dw, respectively. Consequently, DPPH free radical-scavenging activity and the inhibition of pre-formed radical ABTS.+ by leaf extract were comparable to or even higher than the effect of synthetic antioxidant BHT. In addition, both tests were very highly correlated (r = 0.82) under the effect of quince leaf extract testifying to the sufficiency of only one test to highlight antioxidant potential.
Author Keywords: quince leaves, methanol extract, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity.
Saoussen Benzarti1, Helmi Hamdi2, Imen Lahmayer3, Wala Toumi4, Amel Kerkeni5, Khadija Belkadhi6, and Houcine Sebei7
1 Research Laboratory of Agricultural Production Systems and Sustainable Development, College of Agriculture, the University of Carthage, 1121 Mograne, Zaghouan, Tunisia
2 Water Research and Technology Center, University of Carthage, P.O.Box 273, Soliman 8020, Tunisia
3 Higher School of Agriculture at Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
4 Higher School of Agriculture at Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
5 Research Laboratory of Agricultural Production Systems and Sustainable Development, College of Agriculture, the University of Carthage, 1121 Mograne, Zaghouan, Tunisia
6 Free University of Tunis, Khaireddine Pacha Av., 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
7 Higher School of Agriculture at Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Natural products continue to play a significant role in drug discovery and development processes, and many plants have already provided valuable clues for potentially bioactive compounds. Additionally, it has become evident that significant health risks and benefits are associated with dietary food choice. Studies conducted in the past few years have demonstrated that quince (Cydonia oblonga Miller) is a good, safe, and low-cost natural source of different classes of interesting metabolites. In particular, phenolic compounds have application as preventive or therapeutic agents in diseases in which free radicals are involved. Despite the fact that quince fresh or processed fruit properties have attracted most attention, this study focused on antioxidant activities of phenolic compounds extracted from leaves of the Tunisian local variety. Accordingly, chromatographic characterization of methanol extract revealed the existence of nine compounds corresponding to phenolic acids and flavonoids. However, only six compounds could be systematically identified namely, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, quercetin-3-O-galactoside, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-glycoside, and kaempferol-3-O-glucoside. Total phenolic compounds and flavonoids showed respectable content as compared to common medicinal plants: 52.5 mg/g dw and 4 mg/g dw, respectively. Consequently, DPPH free radical-scavenging activity and the inhibition of pre-formed radical ABTS.+ by leaf extract were comparable to or even higher than the effect of synthetic antioxidant BHT. In addition, both tests were very highly correlated (r = 0.82) under the effect of quince leaf extract testifying to the sufficiency of only one test to highlight antioxidant potential.
Author Keywords: quince leaves, methanol extract, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity.
How to Cite this Article
Saoussen Benzarti, Helmi Hamdi, Imen Lahmayer, Wala Toumi, Amel Kerkeni, Khadija Belkadhi, and Houcine Sebei, “Total phenolic compounds and antioxidant potential of quince (Cydonia oblonga Miller) leaf methanol extract,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 518–526, November 2015.
