TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENT, PHOTOSYNTHETIC PIGMENT CONCENTRATION AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF LEAVES AND BULBS OF SELECTED Eucomis L'Her. TAXA

摘要

The genus Eucomis includes 10 species and many cultivars, which are becoming increasingly popular and widely used in natural medicine and for ornamental purposes. The aim of the study was to compare the total phenolic content, photosynthetic pigment concentration and antioxidant activity of the leaves and bulbs of five different taxa: E. autumnalis (Mill.) Chitt E. bicolor Baker, E. comosa (Houtt.) Wehrh, E comosa 'Sparkling Burgundy' and E. comosa 'Twinkle Stars'. Among the examined taxa, the highest content of dry matter and L-ascorbic acid was found in E comosa, which was also characterized by high antioxidant activity, and high content of polyphenols, carotenoids, and chlorophylls. Leaves of all compared in the experiment taxa had higher antioxidant activity and content of L-ascorbic acid, total carotenoids and chlorophylls while the bulbs were characterized by higher content of dry matter and total polyphenols.