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. 2023 Apr 3;28(7):3196.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28073196.

Chemical Characterization and Several Bioactivities of Cladanthus mixtus from Morocco

Amina El Mihyaoui  1   2   3 , El Hadi Erbiai  3   4 , Saoulajan Charfi  5 , Eugénia Pinto  6   7 , María Emilia Candela Castillo  1 , Josefa Hernández-Ruiz  1 , Antonio Cano  1 , Alain Badoc  8 , Ahmed Lamarti  2 , Joaquim C G Esteves da Silva  3 , Marino B Arnao  1
Affiliations

Chemical Characterization and Several Bioactivities of Cladanthus mixtus from Morocco

Amina El Mihyaoui et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to investigate, for the first time to our knowledge, the chemical composition and bioactivity of methanolic extracts (roots, stems, leaves, and flowers) from Cladanthus mixtus (L.) Chevall. that grows wild in northern Morocco (the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region). The phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by spectrophotometer methods, and the composition of derivatized methanolic extracts from C. mixtus using N-O-bis(trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antioxidant activity was carried out by applying the 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) tests. The micro-dilution technique was chosen to investigate the antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts against two bacterial strains and three fungal species. The results showed that the values of total phenolic and flavonoid contents were found to be higher in flower extracts (30.55 ± 0.85 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g of dried weight (DW) and 26.00 ±1.34 mg of quercetin equivalents (QE)/g DW, respectively). Other groups of chemical compounds were revealed by GC-MS, such as carbohydrates (27.25-64.87%), fatty acids (1.58-9.08%), organic acids (11.81-18.82%), and amino acids (1.26-7.10%). Root and flower methanolic extracts showed the highest antioxidant activity using ABTS (39.49 mg of Trolox equivalents (TE)/g DW) and DPPH (36.23 mg TE/g DW), respectively. A positive correlation between antioxidant activity and polyphenol and flavonoid amounts was found. Antibacterial tests showed that the best activity was presented by the leaf extract against Staphylococcus aureus (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) = minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) = 20 mg/mL) and Escherichia coli (MIC of 30 mg/mL and MBC of 35 mg/mL). S. aureus was more sensitive to the extracts compared to E. coli. All extracts showed antifungal activity against Trichophyton rubrum, with the best efficacy reported by the flower and leaf extracts (MIC = 1.25 mg/mL and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) = 2.5 mg/mL). In general, extracts of C. mixtus appeared less effective against Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus.

Keywords: Aspergillus fumigatus; Candida albicans; Cladanthus mixtus; Escherichia coli; Staphylococcus aureus; Trichophyton rubrum; antibacterial activity; antifungal activity; antioxidant activity; medicinal-aromatic plants (MAPs); phytotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative GC-MS chromatogram of derivatized methanolic extract of C. mixtus flowers.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Representative GC-MS chromatogram of derivatized methanolic extract of C. mixtus leaves.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Representative GC-MS chromatogram of derivatized methanolic extract of C. mixtus stems.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Representative GC-MS chromatogram of derivatized methanolic extract of C. mixtus roots.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Antioxidant activity of different organ extracts of Cladanthus mixtus by the DPPH and ABTS tests. Different letters indicate significant differences between the organs of one plant at p < 0.05. Values are means ± S.D. for three replicates.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Percentage of polyphenols and flavonoids in methanolic extracts of Cladanthus mixtus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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