Biological Activity of Phenolic Compounds from Argentinean HerbsInfusions

摘要

Argentinean herbal infusions were studied for their beneficial biological properties and secondary metabolitescontent, such as phenolic compounds in order to find new natural products beneficial. The modifications ofantihypertensive and antioxidant activities by the addition of commonly used additives (lemon, sugar and sweetener) werestudied also.Ilex paraguaiensis infusion showed the highest concentration of phenolic compounds and flavonoid fraction, thesupplementation with lemon juice increased the phenolic compound content. All infusion showed high DPPH radicalscavenging assays and additives did not modify significantly this activity. The infusion of I. paraguaiensis presents themaximum viability reduction of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and the herbs combination Lippiaintegrifolia-Ilex paraguaiensis was the most effective to reduce S. aureus and E.coli viability. The phenolic compoundsconcentration as well as the qualitative composition of each infusion plays an important role in the antimicrobial activity.Because the high correlation between the concentration of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant and antihypertensiveactivities, we can infer that the phenolic compounds are responsible for such activities. The results obtained allow us topropose the herbs studied as potential natural antioxidants and antihypertensive compounds that could be used inpharmaceutical and food industries.