Analysis of flavonoids and in vitro antioxidant activity assessment of a herbal mixture based on St. John's wort and blue polemonium herb
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17308/sorpchrom.2026.26/14182Keywords:
flavonoids, thin-layer chromatography, herbal mixture, antioxidant activity, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical inhibitionAbstract
Recently, multicomponent herbal medicinal preparations (including herbal mixtures) and dietary supplements that exert a complex effect on the body have been gaining popularity among the population. Given the important role of oxidative stress in the development of various pathological processes, research aimed at identifying promising plant-derived agents capable of reducing the amount of peroxide compounds is relevant.
This work aimed to study the qualitative composition of flavonoids by TLC and to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activity of a herbal mixture based on St. John's wort and blue polemonium herb.
The object of the study was a herbal mixture consisting of St. John's wort herb, blue polemonium herb, horse chestnut flowers, and sorrel buckwheat herb (2:2:1:1). Qualitative analysis of flavonoids was performed by TLC using the solvent system ethyl acetate–formic acid–water (10:2:3), with 5% alcoholic aluminum chloride solution as the visualizing reagent followed by UV detection. Quantitative determination of total flavonoids calculated as rutin was performed by differential spectrophotometry after complexation with aluminum chloride. Antiradical activity was assessed using the DPPH method.
Using TLC, the presence of zones of flavonoid compounds was established in extracts from the mixture based on St. John's wort and blue polemonium herb. The highest number of flavonoids was observed in extracts obtained with 40% and 50% ethanol (15 zones each), among which rutin, quercetin, hyperoside, and kaempferol were identified. The rationality of preparing infusion and liquid extract (1:1) as laboratory samples of dosage forms was demonstrated. The quantitative content of total flavonoids calculated as rutin was found to be 0.97±0.12 mg/mL and 23±0.18% for the infusion and liquid extract, respectively. It was found that the maximum DPPH-inhibiting activity at a concentration of 1000 μg/mL was observed for the liquid extract (92.3%), which is somewhat higher than for the infusion (80.5%). The calculated mean IC₅₀ value for the infusion prepared from the studied mixture was 27.34±4.06 μg/mL, and for the liquid extract it was 13.69±0.64 μg/mL. The obtained results demonstrate the potential of using the studied mixture as a source of flavonoids and as an agent exhibiting moderate antiradical activity.
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