Chemical characterization and bioactive properties of two aromatic plants: Calendula officinalis L. (flowers) and Mentha cervina L. (leaves)

Abstract

aThe chemical composition and bioactive properties of two plants (Calendula officinalis L. and Mentha cervina L.) were studied. Their nutritional value revealed a high content of carbohydrates and low fat levels, and very similar energy values. However, they presented different profiles in phenolic compounds and fatty acids; C. officinalis presented mainly glycosylated flavonols and saturated fatty acids, while M. cervina presented mainly caffeoyl derivatives and polyunsaturated fatty acids. M. cervina showed the highest concentration of phenolic compounds while C. officinalis presented higher amounts of sugars, organic acids and tocopherols. The highest antioxidant and cytotoxic activities were obtained for the hydromethanolic extract of M. cervina, which presented the lowest values of EC 50 and exhibited cytotoxicity against the four tumor cell lines tested. Infusions showed no cytotoxicity for the tumor cell lines, and none of the extracts showed toxicity against non-tumor cells. This study contributes to expand the knowledge on both natural sources and therefore their use.

Edible flowers as sources of phenolic compounds with bioactive potential

“…Calendula hydromethanolic extracts and infusions presented the highest concentration of flavonoids (11.15 and 7.37 mg/g, respectively) and total phenolic compounds (11.31 and 7.47 mg/g, respectively) from all the studied samples. It also showed higher concentration of these compounds when compared to the ones reported by Miguel et al (2016) in C. officinalis samples. This difference could be related to the type of treatment that were given to the sample (e.g.…”

“…Quercetin-3-O-glucoside (peak 3r) and quercetin-3-Orutinoside (peaks 8c and 12d) were identified according to their UV spectra, elution order, and fragmentation pattern in comparison to the commercial standard. Compounds 3r and 8c were previously identified in rose fruits by Guimarães et al (2013), and in calendula flowers by Miguel et al (2016), respectively. Peaks 4c and 10c were identified as quercetin-3-O-rhamnosylrutinoside and quercetin-3-O-(6″-acetyl)-glucoside, respectively, which were also previously reported in C. officinalis (Miguel et al, 2016).…”

“…Compounds 3r and 8c were previously identified in rose fruits by Guimarães et al (2013), and in calendula flowers by Miguel et al (2016), respectively. Peaks 4c and 10c were identified as quercetin-3-O-rhamnosylrutinoside and quercetin-3-O-(6″-acetyl)-glucoside, respectively, which were also previously reported in C. officinalis (Miguel et al, 2016). Peak 12ce corresponded to the same compound as peak 10c.…”

“…Food Research International 105 (2018) [580][581][582][583][584][585][586][587][588] by our group (Miguel et al, 2016). Isorhamnetin derivatives were only detected in the calendula samples (peaks 7c, 9c, 11c, 12c, and 13c), being identified as isorhametin Peaks 5d and 7d presented a pseudomolecular ion [M-H] − at m/z 465 that is coherent with a pentahydroxyflavanone structure, also the UV spectra presented by this compounds at λ max 270 nm with a shoulder at 320 nm is also characteristic with dihydroflavonoids, being tentatively assigned as pentahydroxyflavanone-dihexoside (5d) and pentahydroxyflavanone-acetylhexoside-hexoside (7d).…”

“…The phenolic profile characterization, as also antioxidant and antitumor activities of calendula samples have been previously studied by (Miguel et al, 2016). As for rose samples (R. canina), there are some previous studies on the total phenolic composition (Kuś, Jerković, Tuberoso, Marijanović, & Congiu, 2014), individual phenolic profile (Demir, Yildiz, Alpaslan, & Hayaloglu, 2014;Guimarães et al, 2013), and antioxidant activity of fruits and flowers Hvattum, 2002),…”