Porophyllum ruderale (Pr), know in Brazil as “couve-cravinho”, is an aromatic herb widely distributed in Brazil and Latin America. Its leaves have a characteristic aroma and flavour and are used for food and medicinal purposes. Leaves of Pr were harvested at São Paulo state (Brazil), lyophilized, grinded, and extracted with methanol 80%. A phytochemical screening (HPLC-DAD) of this extract was performed, followed by evaluation of its antioxidant activity. Compounds identified by HPLC-DAD were caffeoylquinic acid derivatives and flavonoids (major constituents). The antioxidant activity was evaluated using several approaches including: free radical scavenging (DPPH), nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide scavenging (SOD), i ron chelating activity (ICA), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Pr extract exhibited high antiradical activity in all methodologies used, namely DPPH, SOD, ICA, NO and FRAP with EC50 values of 47.8, 120, 229, 10.5 and 133 µg/mL, respectively. We concluded that Pr leaf extract have good antioxidant properties, probably due its high content in phenolics, showing potential to be use as functional food or functional ingredient.
This work was financed by INTERACT - ISAC project no. NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000017, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through NORTE 2020 (North Regional Operational Program 2014/2020, Portugal), and FAPEMIG (MG, Brazil)
Keywords: phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, medicinal plants