Characterization of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts from flowers of Andryala glandulosa ssp.varia (Lowe ex DC.) R.Fern., an endemic species of Macaronesia region

Sandra Gouveia, Joao Goncalves, Paula C. Castilho,  

Abstract

Andryala glandulosa spp. varia (Lowe ex DC.) R.Fern. (Asteraceae), is a small shrub that grows in mountains of Madeira Island, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote from Canary Islands. The flowerheads are used traditionally for the treatment of edemas and in homemade dermo-cosmetic preparations.

In this paper the chemical composition of the extracts of this plant, used in folk medicine, and their antioxidant capacity were established; the presence of potentially harmful lactones, so commonly associated with related species used for the same purposes was also evaluated. A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method (RP-HPLC) coupled with diode-array detection (DAD) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI/MSn) was used for the characterization of phenolic compounds in ethanol extracts of flowers from A. glandulosa spp. varia collected in Madeira Island. Total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were established and three assays (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP) were used to measure the antioxidant capacity of the dichloromethane and ethanol extracts.

1,3-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 1,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid,
3,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 3,4,5-O-tricaffeoylquinic acid (>98% by HPLC for all) were obtained from Chengdo Biopurify Phytochemicals, Ltd.