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PRELIMINARY RESEARCH REGARDING THE THERAPEUTIC USES OF URTICA DIOICA L. NOTE II. THE DYNAMICS OF ACCUMULATION OF TOTAL PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AND ASCORBIC ACID

NENCU IOANA^1*, ISTUDOR VIORICA¹, ILIEŞ DIANA-CAROLINA², RĂDULESCU VALERIA²

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Urtica dioica (nettle) is one of the most popular and cosmopolitan plants (present in Europe, Africa, Asia, America), whose dietary and therapeutic benefits have been known since ancient times. The therapeutic activity of nettle extracts is related to the presence of phenolic compounds (mainly cafeoil-malic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, rutin, isoquercitrin and astragalin) and their antioxidant activity. Another compound with certain antioxidant activity is the ascorbic acid. Plants maturation leads to changes of their chemical composition. Therefore, in order to evaluate the optimal moment of plant harvesting, dynamics of accumulation of polyphenols and ascorbic acid were undertaken. The results show that young nettle leaves have the highest content of polyphenols and ascorbic acid.