Investigation of Antioxidant and Antihemolytic Activities of Leaf Hydroalcoholic Extracts of Haussknechtia elymatica

Detrimental effect of free radicals in the body could be reduced using rich source of antioxidants. In this research, for the first time, antioxidant and antihemolytic activities of Haussknechtia elymatica leaf extract, as a strain of the Apiaceae family, were studied.
Samples were collected from mountain areas of Yasooj city. Leaf ethanolic extract was prepared by the soaking method. Phytochemical compounds was evaluated by GC/MS. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were measured by folin-ciocalteu and colorimetric methods, respectively. The methods of Ferric-Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP), scavenging of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, and nitric oxide were used to evaluate antioxidant activity of the extract, and in vitro antihemolytic activity against H2O2 was also measured.
The analysis of ethanolic extract by GC/MS showed that asarone at 49.40% is the most important phenolic component of this plant. In addition, the phenolic content of extract (39.6 ± 0.5 mg/g) was higher than the flavonoid content (17.3 ± 1.1 mg/g). The IC50 value of the extract in scavenging of DPPH and Nitric oxide radicals was 62.19 μg/mL and 223.90 μg/mL, respectively. The total antioxidant activity and consequently reducing power of extract increased proportional to its concentration. However, the extract showed weak antihemolytic activity.
The results showed that ethanolic leaf extract of Haussknechtia elymatica had strong antioxidant activity. Thus, it seems necessary to study different parts of this plant.