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Variability of phenolic composition and biological activities of two Tunisian halophyte species from contrasted regions

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Abstract

The present study consists in evaluating the inter- and intraspecific variability of phenolic contents and biological capacities of Limoniastrum monopetalum L. and L. guyonianum Boiss. extracts. Ultimately, they were subjected to HPLC for phenolic identification. Results showed a great variation of phenolic content as function of species and localities. In fact, L. guyonianum extracts (El Akarit) contained the highest polyphenol (57 mg GAE g−1 DW), flavonoid (9.47 mg CE g−1 DW) and condensed tannin contents (106.58 mg CE g−1 DW). These amounts were accompanied by the greatest total antioxidant activity (128.53 mg GAE g−1 DW), antiradical capacity (IC50 = 4.68 μg/ml) and reducing power (EC50 = 120 μg/ml). In addition, L. monopetalum and L. guyonianum extracts exhibited an important and variable antibacterial activity with a diameter of inhibition zone ranging from 6.00 to 14.83 mm. Furthermore, these extracts displayed considerable antifungal activity. L. monopetalum extracts (Enfidha) showed the strongest activity against Candida glabrata and C. krusei with a diameter exceeding 12 mm. The phytochemical investigation of these extracts confirmed the variability of phenolic composition, since the major phenolic compound varied as a function of species and locality. These findings suggest that these two halophytes may be a new source of natural antioxidants that are increasingly important for human consumption, as well as for agro-food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

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Abbreviations

DPPH:

2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl

IC50 :

Inhibition concentration at 50 %

EC50 :

Effective concentration at which the absorbance was 0.5

BHT:

Butylated hydroxytoluene

GAE:

Gallic acid equivalents

CE:

Catechin equivalents

MeOH:

Methanol

TFA:

Trifluoroacetic acid

MeCN:

Acetonitrile

ATCC:

American type culture collection

NCIMB:

National Collection of Industrial Marine and Food Bacteria

DH:

Department of Agriculture

CIP:

Collection Institut Pasteur

MR:

Methicillin resistant

EGCG:

Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (LR10CBBC02), by the Tunisian–French “Comité Mixte de Coopération Universitaire” (CMCU) network # 08G0917 and by the SATREPES Project: “Valorization of Bio-resources in Semi-Arid and Arid Land for Regional Development”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire des Plantes Extrêmophiles, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj Cédria, BP 901, 2050, Hammam-Lif, Tunisia

    Najla Trabelsi, Riadh Ksouri, Abderrazek Smaoui & Chedly Abdelly

  2. Laboratoire de Sciences Végétales, Mycologie et Biotechnologie. Groupe d’Etude des Substances Végétales à Activité Biologique (GESVAB) EA 3675, UFR Pharmacie, Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV), Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France

    Najla Trabelsi, Pierre Waffo-Téguo & Jean Michel Mérillon

  3. Laboratoire de Traitement et de Recyclage des Eaux, Centre de Recherches et des Technologies des Eaux, Technopole de Borj-Cédria, BP 273, 2050, Hammam-Lif, Tunisia

    Mejdi Snoussi

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  1. Najla Trabelsi
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  2. Pierre Waffo-Téguo
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  3. Mejdi Snoussi
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  6. Abderrazek Smaoui
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Correspondence to Najla Trabelsi.

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Communicated by J. V. Jorrin-Novo.

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Trabelsi, N., Waffo-Téguo, P., Snoussi, M. et al. Variability of phenolic composition and biological activities of two Tunisian halophyte species from contrasted regions. Acta Physiol Plant 35, 749–761 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-012-1115-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-012-1115-7

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