Comparison of antioxidant activities of fractionated extracts from seedlings and herb of Chelidonium majus L. using DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods

Abstract

Introduction: Our study is a part of a trend of studies on the antioxidative properties of Chelidonium majus extracts or their fractions suggesting that antioxidant activities may depend on total flavonoid and/or alkaloid contents. Objective: This study focused on the examination of antioxidative activities of full water extract, non-protein fraction and protein fraction of the extract from aerial parts of mature plants and young seedlings. Methods: Total flavonoid and alkaloid contents were evaluated by spectrometric methods. Quantitative determination of chelidonine, coptisine, sanquinarine, berberine was made by HPLC-UV. The antioxidative activities were evaluated using (1) 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), (2) 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging and (3) ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. Results: All concentrations of herb extracts exhibited higher antioxidant capacities than extract from seedlings. Two antioxidant tests (DPPH, FRAP) showed that full water extract from herb had the highest antioxidant activity, while its non-protein fraction and protein fraction showed lower antioxidant activity. It was found that the full water extract from herb contained the highest concentrations of flavonoids and alkaloids when compared with other samples. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that chelidonine and coptisine especially could be responsible for the observed changes in the extract antioxidant activity, because these alkaloids were determined in the highest concentration in full water extract from herb. It cannot be also excluded that the observed variables values between extracts and their fractions from herb or from seedlings may also be the result of interactions between flavonoids and other chemical compounds.