Open Access

ARTICLE

Phytochemical Analysis and Antioxidant Activity of Crocus speciosus Leaves

by Olha Mykhailenko^1,*, Ivan Bezruk¹, Victoriia Volochai², Volodymyr Mishchenko³, Liudas Ivanauskas⁴, Victoriya Georgiyants¹

1 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, National University of Pharmacy, Kharkiv, 61168, Ukraine
2 Department of Pharmacognosy, National University of Pharmacy, Kharkiv, 61168, Ukraine
3 Department of Quality, Standardisation and Certification of Drugs, National University of Pharmacy, Kharkiv, 61001, Ukraine
4 Department of Analytical and Toxicological Chemistry, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, 44307, Lithuania

* Corresponding Author: Olha Mykhailenko. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Plant Bioactive Compounds-Chemotaxonomic Significance, Antioxidant Properties, Potential Application as Food Ingredients as well as Therapeutics, and the Analytical Technology in Their Efficient Discovery)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2022, 91(1), 207-221. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2022.016458

Received 07 March 2021; Accepted 28 May 2021; Issue published 16 August 2021

Abstract

The numerous studies indicate leaves of plants are a rich source of bioactive compounds that can be a valuable source of compounds used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Aim of this study was to investigate the chemical composition and the antioxidant property of Crocus speciosus leaves. Primary phytochemical screening of C. speciosus leaves revealed the presence of some following compound categories such as phenolic compounds, aminoacids, saponins, proteins, tannins, triterpenoids, glycosides, polysaccharides. The total flavonoids and phenolic compounds content were determined spectrophotometrically and by HPLC-DAD and HPLC-MS. Antiradical activity was determined by ABTS radical-cation scavenging method, spectrophotometrically. The total amount of flavonoids in C. speciosus leaves was 1.07 ± 0.02 mg RE/g (p < 0.05), the total amount of phenolic compounds was 0.41 ± 0.01 mg GAE/g (p < 0.05). By HPLC-DAD-MS analysis the presence of the mangiferin, chlorogenic acid, isoorientin, kaempferol, hyperoside, and isoquercitin was established for the first time in Crocus leaves. The antiradical activity of C. speciosus leaves extracts was 150.08 ± 4.5 μmol/g (p < 0.05) and its was mainly attributed to phenolic compounds content. The high amounts of flavonoids and antiradical activity in C. speciosus leaves suggests promising phytochemical and pharmacological study of this Crocus species.

---

Keywords

---