Phytochemical Screening, Total Phenolics and Biological Activities of Tunisian Peganum Harmala Seed Extracts
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Available online www.jocpr.com Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research, 2017, 9(2):32-39 ISSN : 0975-7384 Research Article CODEN(USA) : JCPRC5 Phytochemical Screening, Total Phenolics and Biological Activities of Tunisian Peganum harmala Seed Extracts Maroua Khadhr1,2*, Dalila Bousta2, Hanane El Hajaji3, Mohammed Lachkar3, Hassan Barkai4, Saad Ibnsouda-Koraichi4 and Sadok Boukhchina1 1Biochemistry of Lipids and proteins Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis El Manar II 2092, Tunisia 2Laboratory of Pharmaco-Toxicology, National Agency of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Morocco 3Engineering of Organometallic and Molecular Materials Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Morocco 4Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Morocco _____________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Peganum harmala, belonging to Zygophyllaceae family, is a herb with medicinal properties. This study evaluates the antioxidant activity of Tunisian Peganum harmala seed extracts obtained by two methods of extraction. The antimicrobial activity was also evaluated. The antioxidant activity of the extracts of Peganum harmala was studied by three different methods, including scavenging activity by DPPH, phosphomolybdenum method and reducing power of iron. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated using the broth microdilution assay. Results show that extract concentration was directly proportional to the antioxidant activity and the extracts of the maceration extraction showed a higher antioxidant activity than that in extracts of the soxhlet extraction. At all concentrations compared with BHT, the hexane extract have a higher antioxidant activity than those of all extracts of Peganum harmala seeds. For the phosphomolybdenum method, all the extracts showed an increase in antioxidant capacity with an increase in dose. A quantitative analysis of polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins was also performed. For the antibacterial activity, all the extracts tested shown an important antibacterial effect expect for the hexanic extract obtained by soxhlet extraction. Indeed, the MIC values of the different extracts ranged from 0.097 to 0.78 % (v/v) against studied strains. Keywords: Antioxidant; Phenolics; Tannins; Flavonoid; Antimicrobial activity _____________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Natural products play an important roles of drug discovery process include provide basic compounds affording less toxic and more effective drug molecules, serve as extremely useful natural drugs, exploration of biologically active prototypes towards newer and better synthetic drugs and modification of inactive natural products by suitable biological or chemical means into potent drugs [1]. Plants are the richest resource of drugs of traditional systems of medicine, modern medicines, nutraceuticals, food supplements, folk medicines, pharmaceutical intermediates and chemical entities for synthetic drugs [2]. Medicinal plants have been used as traditional treatments for numerous human diseases for thousands of years [3]. Medicinal plants are valuable natural resources and regarded as potentially safe drugs and have been tested for biological, antimicrobial and hypoglycemic activity also play an important role in the modern medicine [4]. Therapeutic benefits can be traced to specific plant compounds; many herbs contain dozens of active constituents that, together, combine to give the plant its therapeutic value [5]. Phytochemical screening of various plants has been reported by many workers [6]. These studies have revealed the presence of numerous chemicals including alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, phenols, glycosides and saponins. The 32 M Khadhr et al J. Chem. Pharm. Res., 2017, 9(2): 32-39 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ phenolic compounds are one of the largest and most ubiquitous groups of plant metabolites [7]. A number of studies have focused on the biological activities of phenolic compounds which are antioxidants and free radical scavengers [8,9]. Reactive Oxygen species (ROS), including free radicals such as superoxide anion radical (O2), hydroxyl 1 radical species (OH.), singlet oxygen ( O2) and hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) are active oxygen species that are often generated by biological oxidation reactions of exogenous factors [10]. These oxidative mediators can lead to the damage of biological structures such as nucleic acids, proteins and lipids. Many free radicals have been implicated in the causation of several diseases such as liver cirrhosis, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, ageing and Alzheimer’s disease [11]. Besides, phenolic compounds and flavonoids are also widely distributed in plants which have been reported to exert multiple biological effects, including antioxidant, free radical scavenging abilities, anti- inflammatory or anti-carcinogenic [12]. While, flavonoids are a group of polyphenolic compounds with known properties, which include free compounds with known properties, which include free enzymes and anti- inflammatory action [13]. Hence, the aim of this part of the study was to extract and analyze the antioxidant property of different extracts from Peganum harmala seeds. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION Plant material Seeds of Peganum harmala were collected in July 2012 from mature fruits growing in the region of Kasserine (Sbeïtla: 35°13′ N 9°03′E). The authenticity of this plant was confirmed by Dr. Lamia Hamrouni research at the National Institute for Research in Rural Engineering Water and Forests, (INRGREF) Tunisia. A voucher specimen (PH. 013) was deposited at the herbarium division of the INRGREF. Samples were dried in an oven at 60°C and were weighed each day until the difference between successive weights was less than 5%. The dried seed were pulverized by an electrical blender to get powder form. Extraction procedure Two techniques were used for the extraction of polyphenol compounds from the seeds of Peganum harmala powder. The extraction was carried out using various polar and non-polar solvents. Maceration extraction: Pulverized seeds (200 g) were subjected to maceration with methanol/water under room temperature. The methanol/water extract obtained from each sample was evaporated in order to remove the methanol, and the aqueous phase was extracted successively with hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and methanol (MeOH). Soxhlet extraction procedure: Dried coarse powder of the seeds of Peganum harmala was placed into the extractor of a Soxhlet. The extraction was carried out by using solvents of increasing polarity starting from hexane, and follow by ethyl acetate and methanol. At the end of the extraction the respective solvents were concentrated by evaporation. Qualitative phytochemical screening The different extracts from Peganum harmala seeds were screened for phytochemical constituents (alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins) using simple qualitative methods described by Paris and Nothis. Total phenolic content (TP): The total phenolic content was determined spectrophotometrically using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. This test is based on the oxidation of phenolic groups by phosphomolybdic and phosphotungstic acids (FC reagent). According to the method described by Slinkard and Singleton; Singleton and Rossi, a 20 µl of the sample was added to 100 µl of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. After 8 min, 300 µl of saturated sodium carbonate solution (25%) was added. The absorbance was measured at 765 nm. The calibration curve was prepared with gallic acid solutions ranging from 0 to 500 mg/l, and the results are given as gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per 100 milligram of extract (mg GAE/100 mg of extract). Total flavonoids content (TF): The flavonoids content was determined spectrophotometrically, using a method based on the formation of a complex flavonoid–aluminium, having the absorptivity maximum at 430 nm. Quercetin (Q) was used to make the calibration curve. 1 ml of sample was separately mixed with 1 ml of 2% aluminium chloride methanolic solution. After incubation at room temperature for 10 min, the absorbance of the reaction mixture was measured at 430nm and the 33 M Khadhr et al J. Chem. Pharm. Res., 2017, 9(2): 32-39 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ flavonoids content was expressed in µg of quercetin equivalents (QE) per 100 milligram of extract (mg QE/100 mg of extract). Total tannin content (TT): The amount of total tannins was determined using the Folin -Denis method (Oyaizu, 1986). Briefly, 0.2 ml aliquot of extract was separately mixed with 0.5 ml of Folin-Denis reagent and 2.5 ml of Na2CO3 solution. After incubation for 30 min at room temperature, the absorbance versus a blank was determined at 760 nm. The total tannins concentrations of extracts were expressed as milligrams of tannic acid equivalents (TAE) per 100 milligram of extract (mg AT/100 mg of extract). Antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging potential Determination of free radical scavenging activity by DPPH method Free radical scavenging activity of the sample extracts was determined spectrophotometrically using the method of Blois. This method is based on the measurement of the reducing ability of antioxidants toward the DPPH radical. Different concentrations of plant extract in methanol were added to methanol solution of DPPH (1.01104 M). The mixture was vigorously shaken and then allowed to