THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF SOME SPECIES OF $ARTEMISIA$ GENUS, REPRESENTED IN ARMENIAN FLORA

Plants are valuable sources of antioxidants, which could have beneficial effect on human health. In this respect flavonoids and other polyphenolic compounds have gained the greatest attention. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro antiradical activity of different extracts (ethanol, hexane, acetone, chlorophorm and methanol) of Artemisia vulgaris L., A. fragrans Willd., A. absinthium L. and A. splendens Willd., represented in Armenian flora. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was used to measure the radical scavenging activity of extracts obtained from Artemisia species. A. fragrans methanol and chlorophorm extracts possess the highest antiradical activity with IC50 value of 87 µg/mL and 98 µg/mL, respectively. The total flavonoid content in plant extracts was determined employing AlCl3 colorimetric assay. The content of total flavonoid compounds of A. fragrans methanol extract was 15.3±0.3 μg QE/mg. The Folin–Ciocalteu assay was used to determine the total phenolic content of studied extracts. The contents of total phenolic compounds of A. fragrans chlorophorm and methanol extracts were 55.9±1.7 μg and 87.3±1.8 μg of GAE/mg, respectively. In the other cases this parameter value was lower than 40 μg of GAE/mg indicated.