Assessment of Antioxidant and Cytoprotective Potential of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) Grown in Southern Italy

Abstract

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is a plant native of Central and South America, but widely distributed in the wild or semi-cultivated areas in Africa, India, and South East Asia. Although studies are available in literature on the polyphenolic content and bioactivity of Jatropha curcas L., no information is currently available on plants grown in pedoclimatic and soil conditions different from the autochthon regions. The aim of the present work was to characterize the antioxidant system developed by the plant under a new growing condition and to evaluate the polyphenol amount in a methanolic extract of leaves. Along with these analyses we have also tested the antioxidant and cytoprotective activities on lymphocytes. RP-HPLC-DAD analysis of flavonoids revealed a chromatographic profile dominated by the presence of flavone C-glucosydes. Vitexin is the most abundant identified compound followed by vicenin-2, stellarin-2, rhoifolin, and traces of isovitexin and isorhoifolin. Methanolic extract had high scavenging activity in all antioxidant assays tested and cytoprotective activity on lymphocytes exposed to tertz-buthylhydroperoxide. The results highlighted a well-defined mechanism of adaptation of the plant and a significant content of secondary metabolites with antioxidant properties, which are of interest for their potential uses, especially as a rich source of biologically active products.

Human Lymphocyte-Protective Effects of an Ethanol Extract from Detarium microcarpum Guill. and Perr. (Caesalpiniaceae) Fruit Pulp

“…such as naringin and isonaringin exerted a strong cytoprotective effect on SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell lines at concentrations ranging within 100–250 µg/mL [24]. Flavones and C-glucosydes of Jatropha curcas such as vitexin, vicenin-2, stellarin-2, and rhoifolin showed cytoprotective activity on human lymphocytes exposed to t-BOOH [25]. Phytochemical screening of the fruit pulp of D. microcarpum may promote the establishment of future food additives for the benefit of consumer health.…”

Sulfur bentonite‐organic‐based fertilizers as tool for improving bio‐compounds with antioxidant activities in red onion

“…The antioxidant activity against DPPH radical was determined according to Papalia et al . The DPPH • concentration in the cuvette was chosen to give absorbance values of ∼1.0.…”

“…The antioxidant activity against DPPH radical was determined according to Papalia et al 33 The DPPH • concentration in the cuvette was chosen to give absorbance values of ∼1.0. The reaction mixtures were composed of 10 μL of each extract, 700 μL of DPPH • and ethanol up to a final volume of 1 mL.…”

Genomic Study, Phytochemical Characterization, and Antiproliferative Activity of Two Different Genotypes of Jatropha curcas L. Obtained by a Breeding Program

“…For these reasons, in recent years, the growing interest in this plant has encouraged its cultivation on a large scale and in breeding programs, done to obtain genotypes capable of producingmore secondary metabolites. Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anticholinesterase, antihypertensive, and anti-leukemic activities have been also reported [7][8][9][10].…”

“…J. curcas contains a variety of phytochemicals such as alkaloids, flavonoids, diterpenes, tannins, phenolic compounds, and coumarins, exhibiting a broad spectrum of biological activities [9,11].…”