Antioxidant Effects of Different Extracts from Melissa officinalis, Matricaria recutita and Cymbopogon citratus

Abstract

Considering the important role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of several neurological diseases, and the growing evidence of the presence of compounds with antioxidant properties in the plant extracts, the aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant capacity of three plants used in Brazil to treat neurological disorders: Melissa officinalis, Matricaria recutita and Cymbopogon citratus. The antioxidant effect of phenolic compounds commonly found in plant extracts, namely, quercetin, gallic acid, quercitrin and rutin was also examined for comparative purposes. Cerebral lipid peroxidation (assessed by TBARS) was induced by iron sulfate (10 microM), sodium nitroprusside (5 microM) or 3-nitropropionic acid (2 mM). Free radical scavenger properties and the chemical composition of plant extracts were assessed by 1'-1' Diphenyl-2' picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method and by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), respectively. M. officinalis aqueous extract caused the highest decrease in TBARS production induced by all tested pro-oxidants. In the DPPH assay, M. officinalis presented also the best antioxidant effect, but, in this case, the antioxidant potencies were similar for the aqueous, methanolic and ethanolic extracts. Among the purified compounds, quercetin had the highest antioxidant activity followed by gallic acid, quercitrin and rutin. In this work, we have demonstrated that the plant extracts could protect against oxidative damage induced by various pro-oxidant agents that induce lipid peroxidation by different process. Thus, plant extracts could inhibit the generation of early chemical reactive species that subsequently initiate lipid peroxidation or, alternatively, they could block a common final pathway in the process of polyunsaturated fatty acids peroxidation. Our study indicates that M. officinalis could be considered an effective agent in the prevention of various neurological diseases associated with oxidative stress.

Angolan Cymbopogon citratus used for therapeutic benefits: Nutritional composition and influence of solvents in phytochemicals content and antioxidant activity of leaf extracts

“…Our results are slightly different from those reported by Pereira et al (2009) that found similar DPPH . inhibition for methanolic and ethanolic extracts of C. citratus and lower scavenging activity for aqueous extracts.…”

“…It can also act as an antidepressant and as a mood enhancer. Other researches also reported hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, anxiolytic, sedative (Blanco et al, 2009) and antiox-idant properties (Pereira et al, 2009;Figueirinha et al, 2008;Cheel et al, 2005;Cheah et al 2001).…”

“…inhibition for methanolic and ethanolic extracts of C. citratus and lower scavenging activity for aqueous extracts. These differences should be mainly due to the different procedures used to prepare sample extracts, since Pereira et al (2009) macerated the sample in the dark for 7 days with methanol or ethanol and prepared the aqueous extracts by infusion just before use. On the other hand, Figueirinha et al (2008) found higher DPPH .…”

Anthelmintic activity of Cymbopogon citratus against Haemonchus contortus

“…Several investigations have shown that the essential oil of C. citratus possesses antibacterial (NAIK et al, 2010), antifungal (NGUEFACK et al, 2012), antioxidant (PEREIRA et al, 2009), anti-Leishmania (MACHADO et al 2012) and insecticidal effects (KUMAR et al, 2013). These properties are attributed primarily to the major constituent of the essential oil, the citral, which is a natural combination of two isomeric aldehydes (Figure 1), neral (cis-citral) and geranial (trans-citral).…”

Optimisation of antioxidant extraction from lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)

“…They have various physical-chemical properties and therefore optimal parameters of their extraction from plant material are different. The crude extraction of these compounds was realised by extraction solvents such as methanol, ethanol, acetone, propanol, and their water solutions (Herodež et al 2003;Javanmardi et al 2003;Dastmalchi et al 2008;Pereira et al 2009). The selection of optimal extraction solvent was made from the range of water solutions of propan-2-ol because water solutions of this organic solvent can simulate the polarity of all extraction solvents described.…”