Chemical Profiling and Biological Properties of Extracts from Different Parts of Colchicum Szovitsii Subsp. Szovitsii

Abstract

Like other members of the Colchicum genus, C. szovitsii subsp. szovitsii is also of medicinal importance in Turkish traditional medicine. However, its biological properties have not been fully investigated. Herein, we focused on the evaluation of the in vitro antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory effects of flower, root and leaf extracts, obtained using different extraction methods. In addition, a comprehensive (poly)-phenolic and alkaloid profiling of the different extracts was undertaken. In this regard, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) allowed us to putatively annotate 195 polyphenols and 87 alkaloids. The most abundant polyphenols were flavonoids (83 compounds), whilst colchicine and 2-demethylcolchicine were some of the most widespread alkaloids in each extract analyzed. However, our findings showed that C. szovitsii leaf extracts were a superior source of both total polyphenols and total alkaloids (being, on average 24.00 and 2.50 mg/g, respectively). Overall, methanolic leaf extracts showed the highest (p < 0.05) ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) reducing power (on average 109.52 mgTE/g) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging (on average 90.98 mgTE/g). Interestingly, each C. szovitsii methanolic extract was more active than the water extracts when considering enzymatic inhibition such as against tyrosinase, glucosidase, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Strong correlations (p < 0.01) were also observed between polyphenols/alkaloids and the biological activities determined. Multivariate statistics based on supervised orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) allowed for the detection of those compounds most affected by the different extraction methods. Therefore, this is the first detailed evidence showing that C. szovitsii subsp. szovitsii might provide beneficial effects against oxidative stress and the associated chronic diseases. Nevertheless, the detailed mechanisms of action need to be further investigated.

Phytochemical Profile and Biological Properties of Colchicum triphyllum (Meadow Saffron)

“…Considering the lack in the literature of similar comprehensive phytochemical screening on C. triphyllum extracts, we compared our findings with a previous work focused on a different species, namely C. szovitsii. In particular, the most abundant polyphenols characterizing C. szovitsii plant extracts were flavonols, phenolic acids, and tyrosols equivalents [9], while anthocyanins and flavanols were found to be less abundant. Another interesting result was obtained when comparing the extraction efficiency of polyphenols between the two Colchicum species and using Soxhlet-MeOH extractions.…”

“…The untargeted phytochemical profile of the different C. triphyllum extracts was investigated through ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (Agilent 1290 HPLC liquid chromatograph; Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) coupled to a quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Agilent 6550 iFunnel; Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). The experimental conditions for the analysis of plant extracts using untargeted metabolomics were optimized in previous works from our research group [9][10][11]. The mass spectrometer acquired ions in the range 50-1200 m/z in positive (ESI+) scan mode.…”

“…Afterward, Agilent Profinder B.06 software was used for post-acquisition data filtering, retaining only those compounds identified within 100% of replications in at least one condition. Thereafter, to provide more quantitative information on the different annotated compounds, polyphenols were first ascribed into classes and subclasses and then quantified using standard solutions (80/20, v/v methanol/water) of pure standard compounds analyzed with the same method [9]. The following phenolic classes were targeted: anthocyanins (quantified as cyanidin equivalents), flavones (quantified as luteolin equivalents), flavonols (quantified as catechin equivalents), lignans (quantified as sesamin equivalents), low-molecular-weight phenolics (quantified as tyrosol equivalents), and phenolic acids (quantified as ferulic acid equivalents).…”

“…Pearson's correlations (p < 0.05; two-tailed) were also calculated using PASW Statistics 26.0. Afterward, the metabolomics-based dataset exported from Mass Profiler Profession B.12.06 (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) was elaborated into a second software, namely SIMCA 13 (Umetrics, Malmo, Sweden) for supervised orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), as previously reported in previous works from our research group [9]. Two OPLS-DA models were built; the first one highlighted the differences in the phytochemical profiles as imposed by the extraction methods, while the second model showed the differences between the three plant-organs under investigation.…”

“…and its alkaloid distribution (focused mainly on colchicine and demecolcine) in several Jordanian Colchicum species. Recently, Rocchetti and co-authors [9] profiled, for the first time, flowers, leaves, and tubers of Colchicum szovitsii subsp. szovitsii, showing a great abundance of flavonols, phenolic acids, and total alkaloids that were the main components responsible for biological activities detected.…”