Rosemary Flowers as Edible Plant Foods: Phenolic Composition and Antioxidant Properties in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Rosmarinus officinalis L., commonly known as rosemary, has been largely studied for its wide use as food ingredient and medicinal plant; less attention has been given to its edible flowers, being necessary to evaluate their potential as functional foods or nutraceuticals. To achieve that, the phenolic profile of the ethanolic extract of R. officinalis flowers was determined using LC-DAD-ESI/MSn and then its antioxidant and anti-ageing potential was studied through in vitro and in vivo assays using Caenorhabditis elegans. The phenolic content was 14.3 ± 0.1 mg/g extract, trans rosmarinic acid being the predominant compound in the extract, which also exhibited a strong antioxidant capacity in vitro and increased the survival rate of C. elegans exposed to lethal oxidative stress. Moreover, R. officinalis flowers extended C. elegans lifespan up to 18%. Therefore, these findings support the potential use of R. officinalis flowers as ingredients to develop products with pharmaceutical and/or nutraceutical potential.

The endophytic fungus Penicillium oxalicum isolated from Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort possesses DNA damage-protecting potential and increases stress resistance properties in Caenorhabditis elegans

“…Ideally, there should be no harm to health indicators while showing some beneficial biological effects. However, some studies have measured only one or two indicators to evaluate the side effects of extracts on worms ( Moliner et al, 2020 ; Duangjan et al, 2021 ). Therefore, this study comprehensively evaluated from four perspectives: long-term and short-term acute toxicity, reproduction, locomotion and growth.…”

Inhibition of MurA Enzyme from Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by Diterpenes from Lepechinia meyenii and Their Synthetic Analogs

“…These results are very encouraging, especially taking into account that few MurA inhibitors have been developed in the last decade [ 10 ]. The significant presence of compounds 1 – 3 in the edible plant Rosmarinus officinalis [ 3 , 27 ] as well as the antimutagenic activity of compounds 1 and 3 [ 28 ] and the lack of undesired effect against the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans of the latter compound [ 29 ], suggest that these diterpenes lack of toxic effects. The fact that compounds 1 – 6 are devoid of activity against MurF would reveal a specific activity of these diterpenes.…”

Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Properties of Plant Extracts

“…The antioxidant capacity of polyphenols can also be used as an anti-aging potential, as is shown in a study carried out by Moliner et al [16] with rosemary flowers (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), in Caenorhabditis elegams.…”