ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF EXTRACTS OF FOUR PEUCEDANUM L. SPECIES

The present study describes antioxidant activity of methanol, ethyl acetate, acetone and water extracts of the dried aerial parts of four Peucedanum species (P. officinale, P. longifolium, P. aegopodioides and P. alsaticum). The highest yields of extracts were obtained using polar solvents. The total phenolic content of the tested extracts varied from 52.18 to 118.32 mg of gallic acid equivalent (GA)/g of extract and the total flavonoid content from 4.43 to 234.67 mg of quercetin equivalent (Qu)/g of extract. Antioxidant activity was analyzed in vitro using DPPH reagent, activity expressed as EC50 and obtained results ranged from 0.30 to 14.80 mg/mL and ABTS reagent, whose amounts ranged between 1.28 to 3.73 mg VitC/g. Synthetic antioxidant butilated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Vitamin C were used as control. Antibacterial activity of all extracts tested showed minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) which ranged between 5.0-160.0 mg/ml, while minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) was 10.0-160.0 mg/ml. The results of antifungal activity of analyzed Peucedanum species showed antifungal activities in the MIC range of 10-160 mg/ml and MFC range of 20-160 mg/ml. This finding suggests that these species may be considered as a natural source of antioxidants and antimicrobial agents.