Chemical Composition and Biological Potential of Different Extracts of Two Medicinal Plants from Northern Algeria

Abstract

This work aime to study the chemical composition and the main biological properties contained in the extracts of Lavandula stoechas and Pistacia lentiscus collected in northern Algeria. Lavandula stoechas and Pistacia lentiscus are two medicinal plants belonging to the botanical family Labiatae and Anacardeacea respectively. They are grow wild in the northen Algeria and widely used in traditional Algerian medicine. The GC/MS analysis of the essential oils of Lavandula stoechas extracted by hydrodistillation showed that the latter are of fenchone chemotype whatever the period and the site of harvest. LC/MS analysis of tannin powders extracted by maceration of the leaves in a hydroalcoholic solvent reveals that they mainly contain rosmarinic acid. Essential oils extracted from the leaves of Pistacia lentiscus showed a large variability in terpenoid. The antioxidant activity of the different essential oils varied according to the harvesting period and the altitude. The highest antiradical effects were observed with the FRAP test. An another side the Pistacia lentiscus extracts showed to have an α-glucosidase inhibition effect that was more or less impactful according to the plant’s living environment (mountain or littoral) and the considered organ (leaves, stem barks or fruits).