Abstract
Acmella ciliata (HBK) Cass. (basionym: Spilanthes ciliata HBK) is an herb of high medicinal value. Spilanthol, the prime N-alkamide in A. ciliata, is used as an active ingredient in several anti-ageing herbal tonics and in mouth washes. Here we describe quantification of spilanthol, phenolics, flavonoid and antioxidant activity in the methanol extracts prepared from flower, leaf, root and stem of the plant. HPLC of the sample extracts revealed that spilanthol was found to be maximum in flowers (18.44 mg/g), as compared to other parts of the plant as well as several of other Acmella (syn: Spilanthes) species. Estimation of phenolics and flavonoids in the extract by spectrophotometry with their values expressed respectively as equivalence of gallic acid (GAE) and quercetin (QE), revealed that phenolics content was highest in the flower extract (5.58 mg GAE/g), whereas, flavonoid content was found maximum in the leaf extract (31.65 mg QE/g). Antioxidant activity of the extract remained proportional to phenolic content of the extract. Flower extract further showed highest free radical scavenging activity in DPPH and ABTS assays, as compared to the extracts from other parts of the plant. Pearson’s correlation for antioxidant activity with respect to the phenolic and flavonoid content turned out to be positive. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on quantification of the three secondary metabolites considered here and the antioxidant activity in the methanol extract prepared from different parts of A. cilitata.
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Abbreviations
- ABTS:
-
2,2′-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid
- BHT:
-
Butylated hydroxy toluene
- DPPH:
-
2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl
- HPLC:
-
High performance liquid chromatography
- LOD:
-
Limit of detection
- LOQ:
-
Limit of quantitation
- SPSS:
-
Statistical package for the social sciences
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Acknowledgements
Authors thank University Grant Commission, New Delhi, India [F.No: 41-567/2012 (SR)] and DST-FIST for infrastructure for this research, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) of Pondicherry University for instrumentation facilities. RS acknowledges CSIR, New Delhi, India for granting research fellowship [F. No: 09/559(0129)/2019-EMR-1].
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Experimental design and concept was given by NA. Experiments were performed by RS, AK and SG. Manuscript was written by RS and NA.
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Rahul Sharma has no conflict of interest. Arthanareeswaran Karunambigai has no conflict of interest. Somlee Gupta has no conflict of interest. Neelakantan Arumugam has no conflict of interest.
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Sharma, R., Karunambigai, A., Gupta, S. et al. Evaluation of biologically active secondary metabolites isolated from the toothache plant Acmella ciliata (Asteraceae). ADV TRADIT MED (ADTM) 22, 713–722 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13596-021-00584-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13596-021-00584-5