Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant and Anti-Enzymatic Activities of Selected Adaptogenic Plants from South America, Asia, and Africa.

Despite the fact that there are many studies related to the adaptogenic and pro-healthy activities of plant-based compounds, there are some adaptogenic plants whose activities are not fully known, especially those coming from the wild regions of Asia, Africa, and South America. The aim of these studies was to examine the contents of non-nutritional compounds, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids in ten adaptogenic species (Astragalus membranaceus (AM), Uncaria rhynchophylla (UR), Polygonum multiflorum (PM), Angelica sinensis (AS), Andrographis paniculatea (AP), Tinospora cordifolia (TC), Uncaria tomentosa (UT), Pfaffia paniculate (PP), Sutherlandia frutescens (SF), and Rhaponticum carthamoides (RC)). Considering biological activity, their antioxidant (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and ferrous-ion-chelating ability assays), anti-acetylcholinesterase, anti-hyaluronidase, and anti-tyrosinase activities were evaluated. The richest in polyphenols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids was UR (327.78 mg GAE/g, 230.13 mg QE/g, and 81.03 mg CA/g, respectively). The highest inhibitions of acetylcholinesterase, hyaluronidase, and tyrosinase were observed for TC, UR, and PM, respectively. In the case of antioxidant properties, extract from PM appeared to most strongly reduce DPPH, extract from UR inhibited ABTS, and extract from SF showed the best chelating properties. It should be noted that a particularly interesting plant was Ulcaria rhynchophylla. The results mean that there were compounds in UR with broad biological activities, and this species should be explored in more detail. Additionally, our results justify the traditional use of these species in the nutripharmacological or ethnopharmacological care systems of different regions.

Phenolic Profile, Antioxidant, Anti-Enzymatic and Cytotoxic Activity of the Fruits and Roots of Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Maxim.

Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Maxim. is well-known for its adaptogenic properties in traditional Eastern medicine. It has been categorized as an endangered species due to the over-exploitation of the roots. As a result, alternatives must be found, including the usage of renewable aerial parts such as fruits. The goal of this research was to determine the phenolic compounds and the enzymatic, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities of the intractum gained from the E. senticosus fruits and the mixture of chloroform-methanol roots extract with naringenin (3:7:5). The obtained results showed, that the intractum contained 1.02 mg/g ext. of polyphenols, 0.30 mg/g ext. of flavonoids, and 0.19 mg/g ext. of phenolic acids. In turn, the mixture of chloroform-methanol roots extract with naringenin (3:7:5) contained 159.27 mg/g ext. of polyphenols, 137.47 mg/g ext. of flavonoids, and 79.99 mg/g ext. of phenolic acids. Regarding the anti-enzymatic assay, the IC50 values for tyrosinase and hyaluronidase were equal to 586.83 and 217.44 [µg/mL] for the intractum, and 162.56 and 44.80 [µg/mL] for the mixture, respectively. Both preparations have possessed significant antioxidant activity in the ABTS, DPPH, and ferrozine tests. No cytotoxic effect on the FaDu and HEP G2 cancer cell lines was observed. Our findings support the traditional use of fruits and roots. Moreover, the results indicate also that adaptogens are rather nontoxic for normal and cancer cells, which corresponds with some hypotheses on adaptogens activity.