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Biological Activities of Asteraceae (Achillea millefolium and Calendula officinalis) and Lamiaceae (Melissa officinalis and Origanum majorana) Plant Extracts

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Abstract

Asteraceae (Achillea millefolium and Calendula officinalis) and Lamiaceae (Melissa officinalis and Origanum majorana) extracts were obtained by applying two sequential extraction processes: supercritical fluid extraction with carbon dioxide, followed by ultrasonic assisted extraction using green solvents (ethanol and ethanol:water 50:50). The extracts were analyzed in terms of the total content of phenolic compounds and the content of flavonoids; the volatile oil composition of supercritical extracts was analyzed by gas chromatography and the antioxidant capacity and cell toxicity was determined. Lamiaceae plant extracts presented higher content of phenolics (and flavonoids) than Asteraceae extracts. Regardless of the species studied, the supercritical extracts presented the lowest antioxidant activity and the ethanol:water extracts offered the largest, following the order Origanum majorana > Melissa officinalis ≈ Achillea millefolium > Calendula officinalis. However, concerning the effect on cell toxicity, Asteraceae (especially Achillea millefolium) supercritical extracts were significantly more efficient despite being the less active as an antioxidant agent. These results indicate that the effect on cell viability is not related to the antioxidant activity of the extracts.

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Abbreviations

ABTS:

2 2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)

DMSO:

Dimethyl sulfoxide

DPPH:

2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl

GC-MS:

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

MTT:

3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide

SFE:

Supercritical fluid extraction

UAE:

Ultrasonic assisted extraction

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (project AGL2013-48943-C2) and the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (ALIBIRD, project number S2013/ABI-2728).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Food Science Research (CIAL), Madrid, Spain

    Mónica R. García-Risco, Alexis López-Padilla, Susana Santoyo, Laura Jaime, Guillermo Reglero & Tiziana Fornari

  2. Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies on Food (IMDEA-Food), Madrid, Spain

    Lamia Mouhid, Ana Ramírez de Molina & Guillermo Reglero

  3. Polytechnic University of Gomez Palacio (UPGOP), Durango, Mexico

    Lilia Salas-Pérez

Authors
  1. Mónica R. García-Risco
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  2. Lamia Mouhid
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  3. Lilia Salas-Pérez
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  4. Alexis López-Padilla
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  5. Susana Santoyo
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  6. Laura Jaime
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  7. Ana Ramírez de Molina
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  8. Guillermo Reglero
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  9. Tiziana Fornari
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Correspondence to Tiziana Fornari.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Mónica R. García-Risco, Lamia Mouhid and Lilia Salas-Pérez contributed equally to this work.

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García-Risco, M.R., Mouhid, L., Salas-Pérez, L. et al. Biological Activities of Asteraceae (Achillea millefolium and Calendula officinalis) and Lamiaceae (Melissa officinalis and Origanum majorana) Plant Extracts. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 72, 96–102 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-016-0596-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-016-0596-8

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