Phytochemical Characterization and High In Vitro Antioxidant Properties of Hammada elegans Algerian Extracts: a Potent Medicinal Plant

The phytochemical screening of flowers and rest aerial parts (without flowers) of local Hammada elegans Botsch., performed for the first time, revealed the presence of saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, catechin and gallic tannins, sterols and triterpenes, cardiac glycosides, and C-glycosides. However, the combined anthracene and coumarins are present only in the air rest aerial parts. Qualitative analysis of extracts by TLC confirmed the presence of these compounds in both parts of Hammada elegans . The total phenolic content was widely variable and depends on extraction solvents. The crude methanolic extract of flowers presented the highest content (2.66 ± 0.02 mg GAE/g). The in vitro antioxidant capacity of Hammada elegans extracts was assessed by DPPH, CUPRAC, iron chelating, and xanthine oxidase inhibitory assays. The DPPH assay showed an important antiradical activity of the diethyletheric fraction of the rest aerial part (EC50 = 0.46 ± 0.05 mg/ml) compared to other extracts. However, in the CUPRAC assay, the diethyletheric extract of flowers part has an interesting ability (EC50 = 2.67 ± 0.00 mg/ml) comparatively to the other extracts, but lower than those of ascorbic acid and TBHQ. The results of the chelating effect on ferrous ions show clearly that diethyletheric and acetonic extracts of both plant parts have greater chelating powers than that of the positive control. Finally, diethyletheric extract of oth parts of Hammada elegans proved to be the most active in the inhibition of xanthine oxidase activity.