The genus Taraxacum is a member of the family Asteraceae, subfamily Cichorioideae, tribe Lactuceae. Taraxacum species are wild plants and have long been used traditionally in folk medicine for its curative properties such as dyspepsia, heartburn, spleen and liver complaints, anorexia, diabetes, cancer and gastric, renal and hepatic ailments [1, 2]. Taraxacum mirabile Wagenitz is an endemic species to Turkey and growing in the central part of the country. In this study, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of ethyl acetate, butanol, dichloromethane and petroleum ether fractions of the ethanol extract from the roots of Taraxacum mirabile Wagenitz were investigated. It was found that the extracts are able to scavenge DPPH, ABTS radicals, and reduce Fe3+ to Fe2+ in the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Ethyl acetate and dichloromethane extracts showed the highest antioxidant activity due to their richest phenolic contents, followed by butanol extracts, whereas, petroleum ether extracts containing the least phenolics, were weakest in activity. Anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts were evaluated against cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), key enzymes relating to inflammation. The ability of the extracts to inhibit COX-1 and COX-2 was determined by calculating percent inhibition of prostaglandin production measured by enzyme immunoassay. The results showed a considerable inhibitory activities up to 96 % at 10 mg/ml (final concentration of 500 µg/ml) against both enzymes, suggesting that this species might be a potential source of effective plant-derived anti-inflammatory substances.
[1] Schütz K, Carle R, Schieber A. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2006; 107: 313 – 323.
[2] Martinez M, Poirrier P, Chamy R, Prüfer D, Schulze-Gronover C, Jorquera L, Ruiz G. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2015; 169: 244-262.