Investigation of Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Activity, and the Effects of Alfalfa Flavonoids on Growth Performance

Abstract

The flavonoids were extracted from alfalfa using ethanol assisted with ultrasonic extraction and purified by D101 macroporous resin column chromatography. The chemical composition and content of ethanol elution fractions (EEFs) were assessed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography and hybrid quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and aluminum nitrate-sodium nitrite-sodium hydroxide colorimetric method. The in vitro antioxidant activity of two EEFs was conducted by scavenging DPPH free radical, and the main antioxidants of 75% EEFs were screened using DPPH-UHPLC. Moreover, the in vivo antioxidant activity of 75% EEFs and the growth performance of broilers were studied. The results showed that the content of 30% and 75% EEFs was 26.20% and 62.57%. Fifteen compounds were identified from 75% EEFs, and five of them were reported in alfalfa for the first time. The scavenging activity of 75% and 30% EEFs (200 μg/mL) against DPPH was 95.51% and 78.85%. The peak area of 5,3′,4′-trihydroxyflavone and hyperoside was decreased by 82.69% and 76.04%, which exhibited strong scavenging capacities. The total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) level of three treated groups against the normal control group (NC) fed with basal diet significantly increased by 3.89-24.49%, 0.53-7.39%, and 0.79-11.79%, respectively. While the malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased by 0.47-18.27%. Compared with the NC, the feed to gain ratio (F : G) of three treated groups was lowered by 2.98-16.53% and survival rate of broilers significantly increased. Consequently, 75% EEFs extracted from alfalfa exhibited powerful antioxidant activities and might be a potential feed additive to poultry and livestock.

Seasonal variation in yield, nutritive value, and antioxidant capacity of leaves of alfalfa plants grown in arid climate of Saudi Arabia

“…Our results agree with previous reports of total flavonoid contents in alfalfa leaves (Stochmal and Oleszek, 2007;Jing et al, 2015;Babakhani et al, 2017). Similarly, TPC contents revealed in our study are in accordance with the findings of previous reports (Babakhani et al, 2017;Chen et al, 2020).…”

“…Flavonoids and phenols may stimulate the antioxidant activity alleviating such adverse effects of oxidative stress. Indeed, flavonoids act as antioxidant molecules via scavenging oxygen free radicals and inhibiting the superoxide ion formation and thus indirectly inhibiting prooxidant enzymes and redox-sensitive gens and transcription factors (Battino et al, 2020;Chen et al, 2020). On the other hand, the antioxidant activity of polyphenols is attributed mainly to activation of antioxidant enzymes via providing the required hydrogen atom from their hydroxyl groups (Ebrahimzadeh et al, 2018).…”

“…In animal feed, alfalfa is added to increase antioxidant activity of blood serum and liver. Such enhancement ability of alfalfa is attributed mainly to its contents of flavonoids and phenols (Eruygur et al, 2018;Chen et al, 2020). Flavonoids extracted from alfalfa leaves were reported to have high antioxidant activity in terms of diphenylpicryl hydrazine (DPPH) scavenging and ABTS assay (Jing et al, 2015).…”

In vitro oocysticidal sporulation inhibition of Eimeria tenella and antioxidant efficacy of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Conyza aegyptiaca

“…Polyphenols are able to act as reducing agents, singlet oxygen quenchers and peroxide decomposition (Kopustinskiene et al, 2020). The total flavonoids present powerful antioxidant activities by acting as a hydrogen donor to receive free radicals thus generating stable intramolecular hydrogen bonds with semi-quinoid free radicals which block the free-radical chain reaction (Chen et al, 2020). The high ferric reducing antioxidant power (0.267±0.002), Nitric Oxide (98.57±1.25) and DPPH (88.53±3.51), radical scavenging assays of ethanolic extract of Conyza aegyptiaca compared to vitamin C at the concentration of 200 μg/ml may be linked to its high phenolic contents of 127.01±3.99 mgGAE/g.…”

Rationale ofOrthosiphon aristatusfor Healing Diabetic Foot Ulcer

“…[125][126][127] It is believed that most of the bioactivities are attributed to the chemical structure of the compounds, especially the polyhydroxyl groups as radical scavengers. 128 Polymethoxylated flavonoids are also readily absorbed in the intestine and have been shown to have a wide tissue distribution and metabolic stability. 129 Polyhydroxy flavonoids were found to have better antioxidative activity than their monohydroxy derivatives.…”