The phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity of four Tunisian lichen species, Cladonia rangiformis, Flavoparmelia caperata, Squamarina cartilaginea and Xanthoria parietina, were determined in order to provide a better understanding of their lichenochemical composition. Powdered material of F. caperata was the richest in total phenolic content (956.68 μg GAE g-1 DW) and S. cartilaginea in proanthocyanidin content (77.31 μg CE g-1 DW), while the acetone extract of X. parietina showed the highest flavonoid content (9.56 μg CE g-1 DW). The antioxidant capacity of all lichen extracts and crude material was evaluated by DPPH. scavenging, iron-chelating, and iron-reducing powers. Results showed that methanol extracts of S. cartilaginea had the highest DPPH. antioxidant capacity (IC50 =0.9 μg mL-1 ) and the highest iron-reducing power was attributed to the acetone extract of this species. All extracts of all species were further screened by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear resonance spectroscopy (NMR); results showed an abundance of phenols, aromatic compounds, and fatty acids. Overall, our results showed that the investigated species are a rich source of potentially bioactive compounds with valuable properties.
Keywords: DPPH.; FT-IR; NMR; QUENCHER; lichenized fungi.
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