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Health promoting potential of herbal teas and tinctures from Artemisia campestris subsp maritima: from traditional remedies to prospective products

Publication . Pereira, Catarina; Barreira, Luísa; Bijttebier, Sebastiaan; Pieters, Luc; Marques, Catia; Santos, Tamara; Rodrigues, Maria Joao; Varela, João; Custodio, Luisa

This work explored the biotechnological potential of the medicinal halophyte Artemisia campestris subsp. maritima (dune wormwood) as a source of health promoting commodities. For that purpose, infusions, decoctions and tinctures were prepared from roots and aerial-organs and evaluated for in vitro antioxidant, anti-diabetic and tyrosinase-inhibitory potential, and also for polyphenolic and mineral contents and toxicity. The dune wormwood extracts had high polyphenolic content and several phenolics were identified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-mass-spectrometry (UHPLC-PDA-MS). The main compounds were quinic, chlorogenic and caffeic acids, coumarin sulfates and dicaffeoylquinic acids; several of the identified phytoconstituents are here firstly reported in this A. campestris subspecies. Results obtained with this plant's extracts point to nutritional applications as mineral supplementary source, safe for human consumption, as suggested by the moderate to low toxicity of the extracts towards mammalian cell lines. The dune wormwood extracts had in general high antioxidant activity and also the capacity to inhibit a-glucosidase and tyrosinase. In summary, dune wormwood extracts are a significant source of polyphenolic and mineral constituents, antioxidants and a-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibitors, and thus, relevant for different commercial segments like the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and/or food industries.

2018Journal article

Open Access

Unravelling the potential of the medicinal halophyte Eryngium maritimum L.: In vitro inhibition of diabetes-related enzymes, antioxidant potential, polyphenolic profile and mineral composition

Publication . Pereira, Catarina; Locatelli, M.; Innosa, D.; Cacciagrano, F.; Polesna, L.; Santos, T. F.; Rodrigues, Maria João; Custódio, L.

This work searched for the biotechnological potential and chemical characterisation of the medicinal halophyte Eryngium maritimum L. as source of bioactive natural products with enzymatic inhibitory properties and antioxidant capacity. With that aim, herbal formulations traditionally used in folk medicine, namely tisanes (infusions and decoctions) and tinctures, were prepared from four different anatomical organs (roots, stems, leaves and flowers) and assessed for in vitro inhibition of enzymes related with diabetes and for antioxidant potential. Phenolic fingerprinting and mineral contents were also assessed. Sea holly's tisanes, particularly from flowers and leaves, had the highest phenolic content although tinctures were comparatively richer considering the ingestion dosage. The main constituents identified were carvacrol, 2,3-dimethoxybenzoic acid, naringenin, catechin and t-cinnamic acid

2019-01Journal article

Restricted

Exploring the halophyte Cistanche phelypaea (L.) Cout as a source of health promoting products: In vitro antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory properties, metabolomic profile and computational studies

Publication . Trampetti, Francesca; Pereira, Catarina; Rodrigues, Maria Joao; Celaj, Odeta; D'Abrosca, Brigida; Zengin, Gokhan; Mollica, Adriano; Stefanucci, Azzurra; Custódio, Luísa

In this study, ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol and water extracts from flowers, stems and roots of Cistanche phelypaea (L.) Cout were appraised for radical scavenging activity (RSA) towards 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl,2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and superoxide free radicals, and for metal chelating activities on iron and copper ions. The water extracts had the highest antioxidant activity, especially those from roots and flowers, and were further appraised for in vitro inhibition of enzymes implicated on the onset of human ailments, namely acetyl- (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) for Alzheimer's disease, alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase for diabetes, and tyrosinase for skin hyper-pigmentation disorders. The extracts had a higher activity towards BuChE, and the roots extract had the highest capacity to inhibit tyrosinase. Samples showed a low capacity to inhibit carbohydrate hydrolysing enzymes, except for the root extract with a good inhibition on glucosidase. Samples were then characterized by NMR (1D and 2D): the main metabolites identified in the flowers extract were iridoid glycosides, in particular gluroside and bartsioside. In stems, phenylehanoid glycosides (PhGs) and iri doids were detected, especially acteoside. In roots were detected essentially PhGs, mainly echinacoside and tubuloside A. Docking studies were performed on the identified compounds. A favorable binding energy of tubuloside A to tyrosinase was calculated, and indicated this compound as a possible competitive inhibitor of alpha-glucosidase and tyrosinase. Our results suggest that C. phelypeae is a promising source of biologically-active compounds with health promoting properties for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

2019-02Journal article

Restricted

Dataset on functional and chemical properties of the medicinal halophyte Polygonum maritimum L. under greenhouse cultivation

Publication . Rodrigues, Maria Joao; Monteiro, Ivo; Placines, Chloé; Castañeda-Loaiza, Viana; Ślusarczyk, Sylwester; Matkowski, Adam; Pereira, Catarina; Pousão-Ferreira, Pedro; Custódio, Luísa

This data article includes data and analyses on the effect of different agronomic techniques on the production of Polygonum maritimum L. (sea knotgrass), namely different salinity irrigation treatments (0, 100, 200, 300 and 600 mM of NaCl) and a multi-harvest regime, and their relation with the chemical profile (ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry - UHRMS), in vitro antioxidant [radical-scavenging activity (RSA) of DPPH and ABTS, copper chelating activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power] and anti-inflammatory (nitric oxide reduction on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages) activities. For further interpretation of the data presented in this work, please see the related research article "The irrigation salinity and harvesting affect the growth, chemical profile and biological activities of Polygonum maritimum L." (Rodrigues et al., 2019).

2019Journal article

Open Access

Chemical and biological characterization of halophyte plants with ethnopharmacological use in the Algarve coast

Publication . Pereira, Catarina Alexandra Guerreiro; Barreira, Luísa; Custódio, Luísa Margarida Batista; Palomera, Fernando Alberício

This work aimed to investigate the potential of medicinal halophytes as sources of bioactive compounds with health-promoting properties, while validating their traditional uses and searching for new bioactivities/applications. Halophytes are salt-tolerant plants that survive in extreme biotopes and, to cope with environmental stress, are equipped with powerful defence mechanisms, including highly bioactive compounds. Several medicinal halophytes are used in folk therapeutics but, despite their ethnopharmacological importance, are still underexplored. This study focused on five medicinal halophytes from southern Portugal, namely Artemisia campestris L. subsp. maritima Arcangeli (dune wormwood), Crithmum maritimum L. (sea fennel), Eryngium maritimum L. (sea holly), Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G.Don subsp. picardii (Boiss&Reuter) Franco (everlasting), and Plantago coronopus L. (buckshorn plantain). Water and organic extracts were prepared from different plant organs, assessed for in vitro antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-hyperpigmentation and anti-protozoan activities, and chemically characterized. The large majority of the extracts have high polyphenolic content and are a potentially good source of these bioactive phytochemicals. They presented a wide diversity of phenolics, especially coumaric, ferulic, syringic, chlorogenic, and p-hydroxybenzoic acids. Minerals were also analysed, and some species may have a nutritional role as mineral supplementary source, particularly sea fennel for macronutrients and dune wormwood for microelements. A preliminary toxicological assessment showed that extracts had overall low toxicity. As for bioactivities, results confirm the strong in vitro antioxidant capacity of the extracts. Everlasting, dune wormwood and sea holly also showed anti-diabetic activity, while dune wormwood had additional anti-hyperpigmentation capacity, and sea fennel had activity against Trypanosoma cruzi. In conclusion, all halophytes can be useful sources of antioxidants to potentially help prevent oxidative-stress related diseases, while everlasting, dune wormwood and sea holly may additionally help control glucose levels. Dune wormwood is also a prospective source of compounds to prevent skin darkening and sea fennel may provide effective anti-T. cruzi molecule(s).

2019-05-23Doctoral thesis

Open Access