Study on Three Sarcocapnos Species as Potential Sources of Bioactive Compounds: Relation between Phenolic Content and Bioactivity by Multivariate Analysis

Abstract

<jats:p>In this work, we report the phenolic composition and bioactivity of the aerial parts of three species of <jats:italic>Sarcocapnos</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>S. enneaphylla</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>S. pulcherrima</jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>S. saetabensis</jats:italic>) to study their potential as sources of bioactive compounds to revalorize them and contribute to the conservation of these plant species. Samples were collected in different locations in the province of Jaén (southeast of Spain), and qualitative and quantitative analyses of phenolic compounds were performed by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass spectrometry detection. <jats:italic>S. enneaphylla</jats:italic> presented the highest concentration of phenolic compounds (58 mg/g DE). The most abundant compound in <jats:italic>S. enneaphylla</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>S. saetabensis</jats:italic> was rutin (35 mg/g DE and 11.7 mg/g DE, respectively), whereas isorhamnetin-O-rutinoside was dominant in <jats:italic>S. pulcherrima</jats:italic> (11.5 mg/g DE). Several assays were performed to evaluate the potential bioactivity of the three species of <jats:italic>Sarcocapnos</jats:italic>. These assays included antioxidant and radical scavenging (ABTS and DPPH), reducing power (CUPRAC and FRAP), phosphomolybdenum and metal chelating, and enzyme inhibitory activity (acetylcholinesterase, amylase, butyrylcholinesterase, glucosidase, and tyrosinase). In general, all methanolic extracts presented the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents, as well as the highest radical scavenging, antioxidant, and enzyme inhibitory properties. This relationship between phenolics and bioactivity was confirmed by multivariate analysis.</jats:p>

Phenolic Profile, Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibitory Activities of Leaves from Two Cassia and Two Senna Species

“…S. fistula had the highest total polyphenolics content and it was observed that when considering the total content of all bioactive compounds without kaempferol-3-glucoside, A. fistula also recorded the highest total individual content (35,499.35 µg/g), which might significantly reflect on its highest antioxidant activity in most assays (5/6). This was in agreement with previous reports that demonstrated a good correlation between total bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity [ 17 , 27 , 28 ]. Moreover, many of the identified compounds in the present study were well known for their high antioxidant activity, such as epicatechin [ 29 ], caffeic acid [ 30 ], glycosides of kaempferol [ 31 ], delphindin 3,5 diglucoside [ 32 ], catechin [ 33 ], cinnamic acid [ 34 ], and hyperoside [ 35 ] among others.…”