Antioxidant activity and phenolic composition of costmary (Chrysanthemum balsamita L.) flower

Costmary, Chrysanthemum balsamita L., is a widely cultivated ornament plant. Previous studies have demonstrated that extracts of costmary show several bioactivities including antioxidant, diuretic, astringent, antiseptic, stomachic and anthelmintic [1]. Nevertheless, its phytochemical exploration is still incomplete. Our aim was to characterize the scavenger activity of herb methanolic extracts using in vitro ABTS method as well as identify the potential bioactive compounds by LC-ESI-QqQ and LC-ESI-high-resolution Orbitrap MS/MS methods. Based on preliminary screening notable amounts of polyphenols (64.50 ± 4.21 mg/100g) and flavonoids (21.58 ± 1.12 mg/100g) were presented in the extract. Using ABTS method an excellent antioxidant activity was measured with 1.2 ± 0.1 µg/mL IC₅₀ value which is comparable with the scavenger activity of quercetin standard (IC₅₀ = 3.4 ± 0.2 µg/mL). In the extract altogether 34 phenolics, comprising 14 hydroxycinnamoylquinic acids (mainly different caffeoylquinic acid derivatives) and 20 flavonoids (glycosides of apigenin, luteoilin, diosmetin, acacetin and quercetin) were identified with combination of different LC-MS techniques. Our results clearly show that costmary herb is an inexpensive, readily available natural source of phenolic compounds with a possible pharmacological and cosmetic applications.

Acknowledgements

Thanks for the financial support of grant no. 52.2/P.2.EMEOGYSZ/01.02.2016 from the Society of the Transylvanian Museum and Semmelweis University. Was completed in the ELTE Institutional Excellence Program (1783-3/2018/FEKUTSRAT) supported by the Hungarian Ministry of Human Capacities.

• References

• 1 Pukalskas A, Venskutonis PR, Dijkgraaf I, van Beek TA. Isolation, identification and activity of natural antioxidants from costmary (Chrysanthemum balsamita) cultivated in Lithuania. Food Chem 2010; 122 (03) : 804-811.