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. 2023 Feb 22;12(3):550.
doi: 10.3390/antiox12030550.

Withania somnifera L.: Phenolic Compounds Composition and Biological Activity of Commercial Samples and Its Aqueous and Hydromethanolic Extracts

Milena Polumackanycz  1 , Spyridon A Petropoulos  2 , Tomasz Śledziński  3 , Elżbieta Goyke  3 , Agnieszka Konopacka  4 , Alina Plenis  1 , Agnieszka Viapiana  1
Affiliations

Withania somnifera L.: Phenolic Compounds Composition and Biological Activity of Commercial Samples and Its Aqueous and Hydromethanolic Extracts

Milena Polumackanycz et al. Antioxidants (Basel). .

Abstract

In the present study, the chemical composition and bioactive properties of commercially available Withania somnifera samples were evaluated. The hydromethanolic and aqueous extracts of the tested samples were analyzed in terms of phenolic compound composition, ascorbic acid content, antioxidant and antibacterial activity, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activities. Polyphenols and ascorbic acid content, as well as the antioxidant activity, were higher in the aqueous extracts than in the hydromethanolic extracts. Generally, aqueous extracts presented higher antioxidant activity than the hydromethanolic ones, especially in the case of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Moreover, higher amounts of phenolic acids and flavonoids were found in the hydromethanolic extracts compared to the aqueous ones. Regarding the antibacterial properties, samples 4, 6, and 10 showed the best overall performance with growth-inhibitory activities against all the examined bacteria strains. Finally, the aqueous and hydromethanolic extracts were the most efficient extracts in terms of AChE and BChE inhibitory activities, respectively. In conclusion, our results indicate that W. somnifera possesses important bioactive properties which could be attributed to the high amounts of phenolic compounds. However, a great variability was recorded in commercially available products, suggesting significant differences in the origin of product and the processing method.

Keywords: Solanaceae; antimicrobial activity; antioxidant capacity; ashwagandha; bioactive compounds; gooseberry; phenolic profile; winter cherry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Three-dimensional scatterplot of principal components 1, 2, and 3 for the tested Withania somnifera samples extracted with two different protocols (hydromethanolic and aqueous extracts).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The loading plot of principal components 1 and 2 for the tested Withania somnifera samples extracted with two different protocols (hydromethanolic and aqueous extracts).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The loading plot of principal components 1 and 3 for the tested Withania somnifera samples extracted with two different protocols (hydromethanolic and aqueous extracts).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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