Research of the Chemical Composition and Acute Toxicity of Wild Grasses Decoctions as a Prescription Component of Soft Drinks

Abstract

Excessive formation of free radicals in the human body leads to the biologically active compounds destruction, jeopardizing well-being, causing decrease in immunity and leading to premature aging. Inter alia, the use of soft drinks containing antioxidants (flavonoids, phenolic compounds and other organic substances) can reduce the harmful oxidative process impact on the body. A man used medicinal sage (Salvia officinalis), peppermint (Mentha piperita L.), sand immortelle (Helichrysum arenarium L.) as sources of biologically active compounds during the study. The research aims at studying the chemical composition and acute toxicity of decoctions from a mixture of medicinal sage, peppermint, sand immortelle, recommended in the non–alcoholic beverages production. The authors prepared three decoctions, differing in the quantitative content of herbs mixture; then determined an antioxidant activity and quantitative content of biologically active compounds in herbal decoctions. They used liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the phenolic composition; the flavonoids content was determined on a spectrophotometer SF-46, the quantitative active substances content of plant raw materials - on a chromatograph “Cvet Yauza-04”. A man studied acute toxicity on CD-I outbred mice (males and females) by injecting the maximum permissible volume of herbal decoctions into the stomach through a probe – 0.8 ml per 29 g, which was a dose of 5.0 g/kg of animal weight. The study results demonstrated that herbal decoctions are safe / low-toxic for mice. According to the research results, decoctions from herbs mixture of medicinal sage, peppermint and sand immortelle can be recommended as a ready-made drink in the capacity of flavonoids, phenolic compounds and other organic substances.