Antioxidant and antimicrobial phenolic compounds from extracts of cultivated and wild-grown Tunisian Ruta chalepensis.

The antioxidant and antibacterial activities of phenolic compounds from cultivated and wild Tunisian Ruta chalepensis L. leaves, stems, and flowers were assessed. The leaves and the flowers exhibited high but similar total polyphenol, flavonoid, and tannin content. Moreover, two organs showed strong, although not significantly different, total antioxidant activity, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging ability, and reducing power. Investigation of the phenolic composition showed that vanillic acid and coumarin were the major compounds in the two organs, with higher percentages in the cultivated organs than in the spontaneous organs. Furthermore, R. chalepensis extracts showed marked antibacterial properties against human pathogen strains, and the activity was organ- and origin-dependent. Spontaneous stems had the strongest activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. From these results, it was concluded that domestication of Ruta did not significantly affect its chemical composition and consequently the possibility of using R. chalpensis organs as a potential source of natural antioxidants and as an antimicrobial agent in the food industry.

Relation between salt tolerance and biochemical changes in cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) seeds.

In this study, the effects of salinity on growth, fatty acid, essential oil, and phenolic composition of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) seeds as well as the antioxidant activities of their extracts were investigated. Plants were treated with different concentrations of NaCl treatment: 0, 50, 75, and 125 mmoL. Plant growth was significantly reduced with the severity of saline treatment. This also caused important reductions in the seed yield and yield components. Besides, NaCl treatments affected fatty acid composition. Petroselinic and linoleic acids proportions diminished consistently with the increase in NaCl concentration, whereas palmitic acid proportion increased. Furthermore, NaCl enhanced essential oil production in C. cyminum seeds and induced marked changes on the essential oil quality. Essential oil chemotype was modified from γ-terpinene/1-phenyl-1,2 ethanediol in control to γ-terpinene/ß-pinene in salt stressed plants. Total polyphenol content was higher in treated seeds, and salinity improved the amount of individual phenolic compounds. Moreover, antioxidant activities of the extracts were determined by four different test systems, namely 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, ß-carotene/linoleic acid chelating, and reducing power assays. The highest antioxidant activities were reveled in severe stressed plants. In this case, cumin seeds produced under saline conditions may function as a potential source of essential oil and antioxidant compounds, which could support the utilization of this plant in a large field of applications such as food industry.

Metabolite profiles of essential oils and molecular markers analysis to explore the biodiversity of Ferula communis: Towards conservation of the endemic giant fennel.

Giant fennel (Ferula communis L.) is well known in folk medicine for the treatment of various organ disorders. The biological importance of members of genus Ferula prompted us to investigate the leaves of the endangered Tunisian medicinal plant F. communis L. not previously investigated. An estimate of genetic diversity and differentiation between genotypes of breeding germplasm is of key importance for its improvement. Thus, four F. communis populations were RAPD fingerprinted (63 RAPD markers generated by 7 primers) and the composition of their leaf essential oils (EO) (134 EO compounds) was characterized by GC-MS. Cluster analysis based on the leaf volatiles chemical composition of F. communis accessions defined three chemotypes according to main compounds have been distinguished: α-eudesmol/ß-eudesmol/γ-terpinene; α-eudesmol/α-pinene/caryophyllene oxide and chamazulene/α-humulene chemotypes. A high genetic diversity within population and high genetic differentiation among them, based on RAPDs, were revealed (H(pop)=0.320 and GST=0.288) caused both by the habitat fragmentation, the low size of most populations and the low level of gene flow among them. The RAPD dendrogram showed separation of three groups. Populations dominated by individuals from the ß-eudesmol/γ-terpinene; chemotype showed the lowest gene diversity (H=0.104), while populations with exclusively α-pinene/caryophyllene oxide chemotype showed the highest value (H=0.285). The UPGMA dendrogram and PCA analysis based on volatiles yielded higher separation among populations, indicated specific adaptation of populations to the local environments. Correlation analysis showed a non-significant association between the distance matrices based on the genetic markers (RAPD) and chemical compounds of essential oil (P>0.05) indicating no influence of genetic background on the observed chemical profiles. These results reinforce the use of both volatile compounds and RAPD markers as a starting point for in situ conservation. The analysis of chemical constitution of oil of the populations from a specific region revealed predominance of specific constituents indicating possibility of their collection/selection for specific end uses like phytomedicines. Sufficient molecular and biochemical diversity detected among natural populations of this species will form the basis for the future improvement. The correlation between matrices of RAPD and essential oils was not significant. The conservation strategies of populations should be made according to their level of genetic and chemical diversity in relation to geographic location of populations. Our results give some insights into the characterization of this as yet little investigated plant.

Ripening stage and extraction method effects on physical properties, polyphenol composition and antioxidant activities of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) seeds.

The effects of two extraction methods, used at three ripening stages on the total polyphenol contents and the antioxidant activities of Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) seed extracts were studied. The ripening stage effect on some physical properties of cumin seed was significant. The increase of dry matter (from 10.3 to 87.5%) during ripeness was correlated negatively with that of moisture content (from 89.7 to 12.5%). Besides results showed that the full ripe seeds were richer on polyphenols and condensed tannin than unripe ones, and consequently exhibited higher antioxidant activities. However, the unripe seeds had a higher total flavonoid content compared to those of half ripe and full ripe ones. The comparison of two extraction methods showed that soxhlet extracts contained the greatest amount of polyphenols and flavonoids, while maceration samples exhibited higher antiradical and bleaching power assay. Total phenolic contents and IC50 (concentration required to cause a 50% DPPH inhibition) values in cumin seed during their maturation allowed to conclude that antioxidant activity does not depend only on the high content of total phenolics but also on the phenolic composition. A total of 19 phenolic compounds were successfully identified by HPLC analysis during the ripening of cumin seeds. Rosmarinic acid was the major phenolic acid for the unripe seeds. Furthermore, half ripe and full ripe seeds were dominated by p-coumaric acid. These compounds might be considered as interesting bioactive natural substances that may be used in several fields, such as nutraceuticals, cosmetics and agro-food industry.

Polyphenol composition and antioxidant activity of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) seed extract under drought.

This research evaluated the effect of drought on total and individual polyphenol contents as well as the antioxidant activities of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) seeds of 2 geographic origins, Tunisia (TCS) and India (ICS). Plants were treated with different levels of water deficit: control. Our results indicated that, in both varieties, moderate water deficit (MWD) improved the number of umbels per plant as well as the number of umbellets per umbel and the seed yield, in comparison to the control, but it decreased under severe water deficit (SWD). Besides, total phenolic contents were higher in the treated seeds and drought increased the level of total and individual polyphenols. This increase was appreciably more important in TCS than in ICS. Moreover, antioxidant activities of the extracts were determined by 4 different test systems, namely 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, ß-carotene/linoleic acid chelating, and reducing power assays, and showed that treated seeds exhibited the highest activity, for both TCS and ICS.