Research in Plant Metabolites

Research in Plant Metabolites

Comparative Study of Some Phytochemical and Antioxidant Indices in Organs of Six Species of Asteraceae family

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Susan Javani Shandi
Latifeh Pourakbar
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
10.22034/jrpsm.2025.526627.1071
Abstract
The present study was conducted with the aim of comparative investigation of some phytochemical indices and antioxidant properties of six wild species of the chicory family. The present study was analyzed as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design and with three replications. In order to compare the means, the SNK test was used. For this purpose, wild Persian milk thistle (Silybum marianum L.) and European milk thistle (Onopordum acanthium L.), burdock (Arctium lappa), safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), yarrow (Achillea millefoium) and chicory (Cichorium intybus) were collected from the research farms of the Faculty of Agriculture of Urmia University. The highest total phenol content was in chicory flowers and the lowest was in safflower stems. The total flavonoid content in yarrow leaves and safflower stems and flowers was 19.55 and 11.12 mg quercetin per gram of dry weight. Also, the free radical scavenging assay (DPPH) showed that the lowest 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) belonged to the methanol extract of chicory flowers at (22.68) and the highest to safflower stems at (124.48) g/ml. Also, the highest concentrations of cadmium and lead were measured in the stems of Iranian Marigold at (4.1) and (27.15) g/kg of dry weight, respectively. Given the medicinal and industrial importance of chicory plants and the variation in active ingredients in different plants depending on climatic conditions and plant growth environment, and the risk of heavy metal accumulation in plants for consumer health, necessary precautions should be taken when consuming widely used medicinal plants.
Keywords
Antioxidant
Chicory
Phytochemicals
Total Phenolic Content and Heavy metals
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