Threatened Cretan species Chaerophyllum creticum Boiss. & Heldr.: phenolic profile by HPLC-PDA-MS and in vitro antioxidant capacity.

In this study, the chemical content of the threatened Cretan endemic Chaerophyllum creticum Boiss. & Heldr. was investigated by High Performance Liquid chromatography-Photodiode Array-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-PDA-MS) analysis. Leaves, flowers and stems of C. creticum, were extracted via maceration and were assessed for their polyphenolic composition and antioxidant capacity. The highest extraction yields were achieved by methanol and methanol/water. A total of 17 compounds were characterised in C. creticum with luteolin-7-O-glucoside being the predominant glucoside found in all the extracts. Malonic esters were present in all the extracts. The main flavonoids and phenolics were quantified by HPLC-UV in parallel to standard spectrophotometric assays which were used for the determination of the Total Polyphenol content and the Total Flavonoid Content. The antioxidant activity was assessed by two different tests: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•) free radical assay and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. This is the first report on the chemical content of the Cretan endemic C. creticum.