Phytochemical Profile, Antioxidant Activity, and Cytotoxicity Assessment of Tagetes erecta L. Flowers

Abstract

Tagetes erecta L. is a popular ornamental plant of the Asteraceae family, which is widely cultivated not only for its decorative use, but also for the extraction of lutein. Besides carotenoid representatives, which have been extensively studied, other important classes of secondary metabolites present in the plant, such as polyphenols, could exhibit important biological activities. The phytochemical analysis of a methanolic extract obtained from T. erecta inflorescences was achieved using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) techniques. The extract was further subjected to a multistep purification process, which allowed the separation of different fractions. The total extract and its fractions contain several polyphenolic compounds, such as hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, flavonols (especially quercetagetin glycosides), and several aglycons (e.g., quercetin, patuletin). One of the fractions, containing mostly quercetagitrin, was subjected to two different antioxidant assays (metal chelating activity and lipoxygenase inhibition) and to in vitro cytotoxicity assessment. Generally, the biological assays showed promising results for the investigated fraction compared to the initial extract. Given the encouraging outcome of the in vitro assays, further purification and structural analysis of compounds from T. erecta extracts, as well as further in vivo investigations are justified.

Eco-Friendly Synthesis and Comparative In Vitro Biological Evaluation of Silver Nanoparticles Using Tagetes erecta Flower Extracts

“…The 15-LOX inhibition capacity of extracts and of their corresponding AgNPs was evaluated using the modified Malterud method [9,29]. In total, 50 µL lipoxidase from Glycine max in borate buffer (pH 9) and 50 µL of the sample/control solution were mixed and then left to stand for 10 min.…”

“…The present paper investigates the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using green chemistry and their characterization. For the synthesis of nanoparticles using biological methods, we chose Tagetes erecta (T. erecta), an ornamental plant very common in most geographical areas, taking into consideration its availability, as well as the fact that the species has been intensively studied regarding its chemical composition [9]. The species is a popular plant found in the Asteraceae family and it is widely cultivated for its decorative properties, as well as for the extraction of carotenoids [9,10].…”

“…For the synthesis of nanoparticles using biological methods, we chose Tagetes erecta (T. erecta), an ornamental plant very common in most geographical areas, taking into consideration its availability, as well as the fact that the species has been intensively studied regarding its chemical composition [9]. The species is a popular plant found in the Asteraceae family and it is widely cultivated for its decorative properties, as well as for the extraction of carotenoids [9,10]. It has been used since ancient times in traditional medicine, especially in Mexico and South America, to treat a wide variety of diseases and conditions.…”

Chrysin and rutin protect against hydrogen peroxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide induced oxidative cell damage

“…Plate was incubated at 37 °C, 5%CO2 for 24h and the cells viability was measured by using the MTT assay as described previously (20). The yellow-colored MTT was reduced by the mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase of active living cells to purple formazan which the optical density can be measured at 570 nm 16 . At the end of the incubation period, the supernatant was aspirated from the wells of the plate and 100 μL of the MTT solution (5 mg / mL in HBSS buffer) was added.…”

“…Pharmacological properties of rutin include anti-inflammation 8 , antioxidant 9 , anti-physical fatigue 10 , antidiabetic and anticancer 7 as well as neuroprotective 11 and cardioprotective agent 12 . Previous biological investigations demonstrated that rutin increases antioxidant enzymes, catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione level in rat PC-12 cells and prevents cells damages induced by a neurotoxic agent, 6-hydroxydopamine 16 . Moreover, rutin restored memory in doxorubicin-induced memory deficits in rat .…”