Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

« Back to Farmacia Journal 2/2019

ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF SOME PLANTS USED IN FOLK MEDICINE IN ROMANIA

NÓRA PAPP 1*, NIKOLETT SALI 2,3, RITA CSEPREGI 2, MÓNIKA TÓTH 1, KINGA GYERGYÁK 1, TÜNDE DÉNES 1, SÁMUEL GERGELY BARTHA 1, ERZSÉBET VARGA 4, ANDREA KASZÁS 1, TAMÁS KŐSZEGI 2,3

1.Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Pécs, Rókus 2, H-7624, Pécs, Hungary
2.Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical School, University of Pécs, Ifjúság 13, H-7624, Pécs, Hungary
3.János Szentágothai Research Center, Ifjúság 20, H-7624 Pécs, Hungary
4.Department of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 540139 Târgu Mureş, Romania

Download Full Article PDF

The aim of the study was to analyze the antioxidant activity of Ajuga reptans, Anthyllis vulneraria, Impatiens noli-tangere, Lilium candidum, Ononis arvensis, Plantago media, Rhinanthus serotinus, Thymus serpyllum, and Veronica beccabunga used in ethnomedicine in Romania. In vitro antioxidant assays were performed with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), modified chemiluminescence and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assays on the ethnomedicinally used parts of the species. The 50% ethanolic extracts of plants exerted a similar radical-scavenging effect measured by DPPH and chemiluminescence assays (R² = 0.8811). However, considerably higher values were measured by the ORAC method and these data did not correlate with the results of the chemiluminescence and the DPPH assays. The studied vegetal products from of L. candidum, P. media, Rh. serotinus, Th. serpyllum, and V. beccabunga showed the highest total antioxidant capacity values by all used methods, while I. noli-tangere expressed the lowest antioxidant capacity. The study highlights the promising phytochemical values of ethnomedicinally used plants from Romania.