Progress in the Study of Chemical Constituents of Actaea cimicifuga and Actaea erythrocarpa and Their Biological Potential

Abstract

For the first time, hydroethanolic extracts from Actaea cimicifuga and Actaea erythrocarpa were analyzed using LC-HRMS, HPLC, and spectrometry in this study. Extracts from the above-ground parts of Actaea species exhibited higher concentrations of saponins (up to 248 mg/g of DE), coumarins (up to 162 mg/g of DE), flavonols (up to 32 mg/g of DE), and catechins (up to 11 mg/g of DE) compared to extracts from the underground parts. The concentrations of phenolic acids (up to 112 mg/g of DE) and tannins (up to 202 mg/g of DE) in the underground parts were comparable to or even higher than those in the above-ground parts of the two analyzed species. The concentration of the main metabolites detected was higher in the extract of A. erythrocarpa than that of A. cimicifuga. The metabolite profile of the extracts from both species showed 66 compounds, including chromones, coumarins, phenolic and nitrogenous compounds, fatty acids, and triterpenes. The HPLC analysis of the four extracts revealed that the concentration of caffeic acid (0.74 mg/g of the dry extract [DE]) was the highest in the extract from the underground part of A. erythrocarpa, whereas the extract from the above-ground part of this species showed the highest levels of ferulic (1.16 mg/g of DE) and isoferulic acids (1.49 mg/g of DE) and of hyperoside (13.05 mg/g of DE). The study of biological activity showed that A. erythrocarpa is most promising for further research, with the highest antioxidant activity found in the underground parts of this species (IC₅₀ = 79.7 μg/mL) compared to the above-ground parts (IC₅₀ = 85.8 μg/mL). In addition, the extract from the above-ground part of A. erythrocarpa was found to exhibit the greatest cytotoxic activity among the studied specimens against 3T3-L1, HepG2, and MDA-MB-231 cells.

Keywords: Actaea; antioxidant and antitumor activity; biologically active substances; high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS).

Figure 1

DPPH radical-scavenging activity of the extracts. IC₅₀, μg/mL: the antioxidant concentration that causes 50% DPPH loss in the assay of DPPH radical-scavenging activity. Different letters indicate significant differences in this parameter (p ≤ 0.05) according to Tukey’s HSD test. Definitions: 1: the above-ground parts of A. cimicifuga; 2: the underground part of A. cimicifuga; 3: the above-ground parts of A. erythrocarpa; 4: the underground part of A. erythrocarpa; AA: ascorbic acid.