Carlina vulgaris L. as a Source of Phytochemicals with Antioxidant Activity

Abstract

The methanol extracts from three populations of Carlina vulgaris L. were examined for the chlorogenic acid content, mineral content, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activity. Two populations originated from natural nonmetallicolous habitats (NN (populations from Nasiłów) and NP (populations from Pińczów)), and one metallicolous population (MB) was collected from Bolesław waste heap localized at the place of former open-cast mining of Ag-Pb and Zn-Pb ores dating back to the 13th century and 18th century, respectively. The level of Zn, Pb, Cd, Fe, Ni, and Mn was significantly higher in the root and leaves of MB plants as a result of soil contaminations compared to those of the NN and NP ones. The highest antioxidant potency has been showed by the plants growing in a nonmetallicolous habitat. The flower head extracts obtained from the nonmetallicolous populations also contained the largest amount of chlorogenic acid, whereas the lowest was determined in the roots (ca. 2–3.5 mg/g and 0.2–0.4 mg/g of air-dry weight, resp.). These studies provide important information on the influence of a habitat on the quality of herbal materials and the content of the biologically active primary and secondary metabolites.

Metabolic Changes Induced by Silver Ions in Carlina acaulis

“…Xerothermic and calcareous grasslands are natural habitats of these plants [14]. However, Carlina genus plants are also found in HM-contaminated areas, for example, waste deposits from metal mining and smelting [15]. As a pseudometallophyte, C. acaulis can be an attractive object to study the HM tolerance and detoxification mechanisms.…”

Evaluation of Phytochemical and Antioxidant Activity of Tridax procumbens Extract

“…Despite naturally occurring antioxidant systems in the human body, reactive oxygen species cause lipid, protein, and DNA oxidation. These damages at the molecular level may influence the etiology of diseases, such as cancer, kidney failure, atherosclerosis, diabetes, hepatotoxicity, neurodegenerative disorders, and aging-related diseases 2 . It has been demonstrated that antioxidant substances may be defensive against above mentioned diseases.…”

Metabolic responses of Carlina acaulis L. to chronic and acute cadmium stress: insights into chelation mechanisms, non-enzymatic antioxidants, and specialized metabolism

“…In an earlier work, Kováčik and Klejdus [9] observed significant elevation of chlorogenic acid in the related species chamomile (Asteraceae family) after prolonged exposure even to a low Cd concentration (3 µM), indicating that chlorogenic acid has probably more general antioxidative action. On the other hand, the negative effect of multi-heavy metal stress on chlorogenic acid accumulation has also been observed in Carlina vulgaris plants collected from metalliferous areas [15]. The authors found that plants inhabiting heavy metal polluted areas accumulated less soluble phenolics and flavonoids and exhibited lower antioxidant capacity than plants from non-polluted regions.…”

“…species that tolerate soils with high content of heavy metals. Two species, Carlina acaulis L. and Carlina vulgaris L., are part of the flora of calamine areas located in the metalliferous sites of Bolesław, in Southern Poland [14,15].…”