Unveiling the Impact of Drying Methods on Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Anthemis palestina

Mahmoud A Al-Qudah; Hala I Al-Jaber; Faten M Abu Orabi; Hazem S Hasan; Amal K Aldahoun; Abdulrahman G Alhamzani; Abbas I Alakhras; Tareq T Bataineh; Abdel Monem M Rawashdeh; Sultan T Abu-Orabi

doi:10.3390/plants12223914

Unveiling the Impact of Drying Methods on Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Anthemis palestina

Plants (Basel). 2023 Nov 20;12(22):3914. doi: 10.3390/plants12223914.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 11623, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, P.O. Box 566, Irbid 21163, Jordan.
³ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Al-Balqa Applied University, Al-Salt 19117, Jordan.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of arts and Science, Applied Science Private University, Amman 11937, Jordan.
⁵ Department of Plant Production and Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Al-Balqa Applied University, Al-Salt 19117, Jordan.
⁶ Department of Medical Analysis, Faculty of Science, Tishk international University, Erbil 44001, KRG, Iraq.

Abstract

Different drying techniques may alter the chemical composition of plant extracts and consequently affect their bioactivity potential. The current study was designed to reveal the effect of four different drying methods on the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of hydrodistilled essential oil (HD-EO) and methanolic (APM) extract obtained from the aerial part of Anthemis palestina from Jordan. Aerial parts of A. palestina in their fresh (FR) form and after drying in shade (ShD), sun (SD), oven at 40 °C (O40D) and 60 °C (O60D), in addition to microwave (MWD), were used to extract their essential oils by hydrodistillation and to prepare the different methanolic extracts (APM). GC/MS analysis of the different HD-EOs revealed qualitative and quantitative differences among the different samples. While FR, O40D, O60D, and MWD EO samples contained mainly sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (35.43%, 29.04%, 53.69%, and 59.38%, respectively), ShD sample was rich in oxygenated monoterpenes (33.57%), and SD-EO contained mainly oxygenated sesquiterpenes (40.36%). Principal component analysis (PCA) and Cluster analysis (CA) grouped the different drying methods based on their impact on the concentration of chemical constituents. SD-EO demonstrated high DPPH and ABTS antioxidant activity (1.31 ± 0.03) × 10^-2; (1.66 ± 0.06) × 10^-2 μg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, A. paleistina methanolic extracts (APM) obtained after subjecting the plant to different drying methods showed interesting patterns in terms of their TPC, TFC, antioxidant activity, and phytochemical profiling. Of all extracts, SD-APM extract had the highest TPC (105.37 ± 0.19 mg GA/g DE), highest TFC (305.16 ± 3.93 mg Q/g DE) and demonstrated the highest DPPH and ABTS scavenging activities ((4.42 ± 0.02) × 10^-2; (3.87 ± 0.02) × 10^-2 mg/mL, respectively); all were supported by correlation studies. LC-MS/MS analysis of the different extracts revealed the richness of the SD-APM extract in phenolic acids and flavonoids.

Keywords: Anthemis palestina; LC-MS/MS; TFC; TPC; antioxidant activity; essential oil composition; impact of drying methods.

Grants and funding

IFP-IMSIU-2023048/Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia