Planta Med 2007; 73 - P_564
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-987344

Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of Achillea macrophylla L. and Achillea stricta Schleicher from Valsesia (Italy)

S Vitalini 1, G Fico 1, M Iorizzi 2, F Tomè 1
  • 1Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133, Italy
  • 2Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie per l'Ambiente e il Territorio, Università degli Studi del Molise, Contrada Fonte Lappone, 86090, Pesche (Isernia) Italy

Valsesia is an area in the Western Italian Alps characterized by the presence of many wild and autochthonous plant species. Some of these plants are commonly used by the local population for pharmaceutical purposes and human nourishment as well as in veterinary medicine.

In this work we present the results obtained by analysis of methanolic extracts and their fractions obtained from two species belonging to the Achillea genus (A. macrophylla L. and A. stricta Schleicher) collected in Valsesia. These species have shown significant antioxidant activity and the aim of this work was therefore the identification of constituents responsible for this activity.

The MeOH extracts were separated by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography; 22 and 19 fractions were obtained from A. macrophylla and A. stricta respectively. The fractions with different TLC profiles were tested for their antioxidant activity, evaluated as removal of the stable radical DPPH, total antioxidant capacity based upon the reduction of Cu++ to Cu+ and lipid peroxidation. Subsequently, the active fractions were purified using HPLC, and 4 active compounds could be isolated (Chlorogenic acid isomers, Rutin, Luteolin-7-O-glucoside, Apigenin-7-O-glucoside).