Antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and skin care properties of 35 selected plants from Galicia (NW Spain)

In order to contribute to the knowledge of plants from Galician (northwest of the Iberian Peninsula), in the present study, 35 Galician endemic and subendemic plants were examined for their antioxidant activity, total phenolic composition, UV absorption, and skin care properties. The radical scavenging capacity, ferric-reducing antioxidant power, protection against oxidation of the β-carotene/linoleic acid emulsion, antiradical protection of irradiated human skin fibroblast were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity. In several cases, the results of this study strongly indicate in vitro antioxidant activity, which may be due to the presence of a high total phenolic content. Antiradical protection of irradiated human skin fibroblast, stimulation of human skin fibroblast proliferation, and significant absorption of UV radiation were also observed. In order to identify active principles, some extracts were submitted to fractionation and genistein was isolated from Pterospartum tridentatum subsp. tridenta...