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Background: In humans, various diseases are associated with the accumulation of free radicals. The antioxidants can scavenge free radicals and reduce their impact; thus, the search for effective natural antioxidants of plant origin is indispensable. The present study aims to determine, for the first time, the flavonoid compounds profile and to investigate the free radical scavenging and antioxidant properties of the methanolic extract of Taxus baccata L. from Algeria. Methods:The determination of the flavonoid compound profile of the methanolic extract of Taxus baccata L. was established using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS). The total flavonoid content (TFC) was performed according to the aluminum chloride colorimetric method, while the free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities were carried out using three methods, namely 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical assay, 2,2'-azino-bis3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) Assay.Results: A total of 26 compounds including flavon-3-ols, flavanonols, flavones, flavonols and bioflavonoids were characterized and identifiedusing HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS analysis, five were reported for the first time such as taxifolin, apigenin, apigenin 7-O-glucoside, isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside and robustaflavone. The plant extract exhibited high total flavonoid content (TFC = 204.26 ± 6.02 mg RE/g dry extract) which corresponded to its strong radical scavenging activities [(DPPH IC 50 = 35.31 ± 0.29 µg/ml and ABTS IC 50 = 8.27 ± 0.52 µg/ml)] as compared to the synthetic antioxidant BHT [(DPPH IC 50 = 78.96 ± 5.70 µg/ml and ABTS IC 50 = 13.56 ± 0.06 µg/ml)]. However, the methanolic extract of T. baccata showed the lowest ferric reducing ability as compared to the positive controls (BHT, BHA, ascorbic acid, trolox and quercetin). Conclusion:Our results imply that the Taxus Baccata L. might be a potential source for the isolation of natural antioxidant compounds.

New bioactive natural products, the phenolic composition and the biological activities of organic extracts from the needles of the Algerian Pinus coulteri were investigated. The analysis by HPLC-DAD of crude extract revealed the presence of 10 phenolic acids and nine flavonoids. In vitro anti-oxidant activities were performed using four different tests. The greatest antiradical activity was found in the ethyl acetate fraction (IC50 = 3.2 ± 0.3 µg/mL), whereas the diethyl ether fraction had the higher contents of total phenolics and flavonoids and exhibited a highest activity in reducing power and β-carotene-linoleic acid tests with EC50= 67.1 ± 0.4 μg/mL and 71.5 ± 0.2% of inhibition, respectively. Furthermore, a low to moderate antimicrobial activity according to all extracts was revealed against eight bacteria tested. The MIC value of chloroform fraction showed a strong degree of antibacterial activity (<0.09 mg/mL). The crude extract was found toxic with LC50 value of 15.2 μg/mL by brine shrimp toxicity assay. The needle extract of P. coulteri is rich in valuable biologically active compounds and could represent a new resource of anti-oxidant agents for the treatment of diseases.