Phenolic profile and biological activities of some species of Zygophyllaceae

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to quantify phenolic acids and flavonoids from Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris extracts and to investigate their antioxidant, hepatoprotective and antihypertensive potentials. Absolute methanol, aqueous methanol, absolute ethanol, aqueous ethanol and hexane extracts were prepared from whole plant of Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris using soxhlet extraction technique. RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of phenolic acids and flavonoids from Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris extracts. The RP-HPLC analysis of Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris extracts revealed the presence of ferulic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumeric acid, gallic acid, p-hydroxy benzoic acid, chlorogenic acid quercetin, myricetin and catechin being the major polyphenolic compounds. The antioxidant activity of all the extacts of Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris were investigated using reported assays i.e. measurement of total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents, DPPH radical scavenging activity, reducing power and percentage inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation. Results showed that the polar extracts of both plants showed excellent antioxidant activity. The potent Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris extracts were administrated to different groups of SHR and WKY rats to investigate the antihypertensive potential, blood pressures, mean arterial pressure and pulse wave velocity. The results also showed that Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris significantly lower the systolic blood pressure and pulse wave velocity of SHR rats. The potent fraction of Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris extracts were also fed to Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, followed by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), and the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), nitric oxide (NO), reduced glutathione (GSH), lipid peroxidation and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) studied. Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris extracts studied successfully prevented the alterations in GSH, SOD, GR, GPX and GST levels of experimental animals. Histopathological studies reveal the hepatoprotection property of Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris extracts. These results showed that the antioxidant and antihypertensive activities of Fagonia arabica and Tribulus terrestris might be responsible for its therapeutic effect.