Phytochemical studies and in vitro evaluation of the antioxidant activity of some medicinal and aromatic plants from Morocco

Abstract

The present work was carried out to evaluate the phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activities of some solvent extract (methanol, hydroethanol and aqueous) of several Moroccan medicinal plants known for their high antioxidant properties. The extracts were obtained by sonication, then, the total phenolics and flavonoids compounds were determined using Folin-Ciocalteu and Aluminium chloride. Afterwards, the Total Antioxidant Capacity and DPPH scavenging methods were performed. Results of phytochemical analysis showed that the total phenolics content were the highest in the hydroethanolic extract of Arbutus unedo with 160.76 mg GAE g-1DM, and the flavonoids content were the highest for the hydroethanolic extracts of Inula viscosa with 489.77 mg QE g-1 DM. Also, it can be noted that Arbutus unedo, Argania spinosa, and Myrtus communis exhibited the most potent antioxidant activity respectively with 0.026; 0.043; 0.036 mg ml-1.