Recovery of Polyphenolic Compounds and Vitamins from the Stinging Nettle Leaves: Thermal and Behavior and Biological Activity of Obtained Extracts

Saša Đurović; Darko Micić; Saša Šorgić; Saša Popov; Uroš Gašić; Tomislav Tosti; Marija Kostić; Yulia A Smyatskaya; Stevan Blagojević; Zoran Zeković

doi:10.3390/molecules28052278

Recovery of Polyphenolic Compounds and Vitamins from the Stinging Nettle Leaves: Thermal and Behavior and Biological Activity of Obtained Extracts

Molecules. 2023 Feb 28;28(5):2278. doi: 10.3390/molecules28052278.

Authors

Saša Đurović^{1

2}, Darko Micić¹, Saša Šorgić³, Saša Popov^{3

4}, Uroš Gašić⁵, Tomislav Tosti⁶, Marija Kostić⁷, Yulia A Smyatskaya², Stevan Blagojević¹, Zoran Zeković⁸

Affiliations

¹ Institute of General and Physical Chemistry, Studentski trg 12/V, 11158 Belgrade, Serbia.
² Graduate School of Biotechnology and Food Industries, Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, Polytechnicheskaya Street, 29, 195251 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
³ Oenological Laboratory, Heroja Pinkija 49, 26300 Vršac, Serbia.
⁴ MS Enviro, Njegoševa 22, 26300 Vršac, Serbia.
⁵ Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković"-National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia.
⁶ Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 12, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
⁷ Faculty for Hotel and Tourism Management in Vrnjačka Banja, University of Kragujevac, Vojvodjanska Ulica bb, 36210 Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia.
⁸ Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, Bulevar Cara Lazara 1, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.

Abstract

Stinging nettle (SN) is an extraordinary plant from the Urticaceae botanical family. It is well-known and widely used in food and folk medicine to treat different disorders and diseases. This article aimed to study the chemical composition of SN leaves extracts, i.e., polyphenolic compounds and vitamins B and C, because many studies ascribed high biological potency to these compounds and their significance in the human diet. Besides the chemical profile, the thermal properties of the extracts were studied. The results confirmed presence of many polyphenolic compounds and vitamins B and C. It also showed that the chemical profile closely correlated with the applied extraction technique. The thermal analysis showed that analyzed samples were thermally stable up to about 160 °C. Thermal degradation of samples UAE, MAE, and MAC took place in four steps, and sample SE in three steps. Altogether, results confirmed the presence of health-beneficial compounds in stinging nettle leaves and indicated the possible application of its extract in pharmaceutical and food industries as both a medicinal and food additive.

Keywords: leaves extracts; polyphenolic profile; stinging nettle; thermal properties; vitamin content.

MeSH terms

Humans
Plant Extracts / chemistry
Plant Leaves / chemistry
Urtica dioica* / chemistry
Urticaceae* / chemistry
Vitamin A / analysis
Vitamin K / analysis
Vitamins / analysis

Substances

Vitamins
Plant Extracts
Vitamin A
Vitamin K

Grants and funding

This work is partially funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation as part of World-class Research Center program: Advanced Digital Technologies (contract No. 075-15-2022-311 dated by 20 April 2022).