GC-MS study of essential oil components and HPLC-analysis of polyphenolic compounds in Rumex vesicaruis L. from south Tunisia

Rumex vesicaruis L. has attracted the attention of many researchers because of its phyto constituents and medicinal properties. The importance of Rumex was based on its biological activities such as antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. In the present study, antioxidant potential of Rumex vesicaruis extract was evaluated by using DPPH radical scavenging assays. The methanol extract showed significant free radical scavenging activities: stems and flowers of R. vesicaruis possess higher scavenging capacity (53.29 % and 50.24%) compared to the leaves (22.21%). Several phenolic compounds were detected by HPLC coupled with diode-array detection. 4-O-caffeoyl quinic acid (21.984mg/100g) and caffeic acid (12.200mg/100g) were identified as the main phenolic compounds present in the stem extract. Chlorogenic acid (718.795mg/100g) and quercetin-3-o-galactoside (165.457mg/100g) were predominant in flowers extract and the dominant phenolic compound in leaves extract was the quinic acid (48.116 mg/100g). The essential oil of the aerial parts of Rumex was obtained by hydro-distillation and analysed by GC/MS. This analysis revealed that essential oil from the stem of R. vesicaruis contained mainly Furfural compound (20.828%) and that the major compounds identified in the flowers were citronellol (35.42%) and n-Hexadecanoic acid (14.41%). All these molecules are known to play an important role in the adaptation of these plants to their arid environment, but also represent an important source of bioactive compounds. Accordingly, Rumex vesicaruis L. is recommended as a plant of phytopharmaceutical importance.