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Influence of the extraction solvent on antioxidant activity of Althaea officinalis L. root extracts

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Central European Journal of Biology

Abstract

Althaea officinalis (Malvaceae) is a well-known plant that is widely distributed throughout the world. Aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts from A. officinalis root are used mainly because of their antitussive and expectorant activity. It is well known that these activities are based on the polysaccharide composition, but little is known about the possible antioxidant activity of root extract. The present study evaluated antioxidant activity of root extracts prepared with different extraction solvents applying ABTS·+ (2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid), hypochlorous acid scavenging assay and iron-induced lipid peroxidation. The results showed that the extract prepared with water as extraction solvent did not possess antioxidant activity, whereas the extracts obtained using ethanol:water as extraction agent showed well pronounced antioxidant activity. In particular, the extracts obtained at low concentration of ethanol in the mixed solvent (50:50 and 70:30, v/v) showed higher scavenging activity for ABTS·+ radicals and hypochlorite ions than the extract obtained with the higher ethanol concentration (90:10, v/v). These results correlated very well with phenolic and flavonoid content of the extracts. The extracts did not show cytotoxic effect on human BV-173 leukemic cells but may have immunomodulating effects due to their antioxidant properties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacognosy, Medical University of Sofia, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Niko Benbassat

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Medical University of Sofia, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Krassimira Yoncheva & Nikolai Lambov

  3. Department of Physics and Biophysics, Medical Faculty, Medical University of Sofia, 1431, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Vera Hadjimitova & Nadia Hristova

  4. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Sofia, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Spiro Konstantinov

Authors
  1. Niko Benbassat
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  2. Krassimira Yoncheva
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  3. Vera Hadjimitova
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  4. Nadia Hristova
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  5. Spiro Konstantinov
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  6. Nikolai Lambov
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Correspondence to Krassimira Yoncheva.

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Benbassat, N., Yoncheva, K., Hadjimitova, V. et al. Influence of the extraction solvent on antioxidant activity of Althaea officinalis L. root extracts. cent.eur.j.biol. 9, 182–188 (2014). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0245-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0245-2

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