Preliminary Phytochemical Screening, Evaluation of the Phenolic Compositions and Antioxidant Activities of Four Iranian Alyssum Species

Background: Alyssum L. is a genus of herbaceous perennial or annual plants belonging to the Brassicaceae family. Little is known about biochemical properties of Alyssum species, specially endemics to Iran. In particular, the species were A. homolocarpum (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Boiss., A. lepidotum Boiss., A. maritimum (L.) Lam. (now syn. of Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv.) and A. simplex Rudolph. and eight accessions were studied. These diverse species accessions were collected in six different areas. Materials and Methods: In this work, the Total Phenolic Content (TPC), the Total Flavonoid Content (TFD), the Total Flavonol Content (TFL), the Carotenoid content (Car) and the Anthocyanin content (Ant) of the leaf methanolic extracts of four Alyssum L. species collected in Iran, were assessed. The antioxidant activity assay for every extract obtained from the eight accessions was also carried out according to three distinct methodologies including three different methods including: DPPH, Beta carotene/ linoleic acid and phosphomolibdate assays. Results: The highest TPC, TFD and TFL values were separately observed in two different accessions of A. lepidotum whereas the highest carotenoid content was observed in one accession of A. homolocarpum and the highest anthocyanin content was observed in A. maritimum. Different results were observed for different methodolies for antioxidant evaluations methods and some of them were found to have values, expressed in mg/mL, much lower with respect to the control. The least DPPH activity and the highest total antioxidant activity with phosphomolybdate assay was found in A. lepidotum. Conclusion: The preliminary phytochemical screening and the evaluation of their antioxidant activities were reported here for the first time for Iranian Alyssum species. The findings eventually recommends, the use of those accessions in the ethnopharmacological and nutraceutical fields.