Bioactive properties and functional constituents of Hypericum androsaemum L.: A focus on the phenolic profile

Hypericum androsaemum L. ethanol:water extract acted as a lipid peroxidation inhibitor and free radical scavenger. Amarked inhibition of the growth of breast, lung, cervical and hepatocellular human carcinoma cell lineswas also observed, whereas no toxicity was shown against non-tumor porcine liver cells (N400 μg/mL). The extract was also effective in inhibiting nitric oxide production, as an indicator of the anti-inflammatory potential. The anti-Candida effects varied among different strains of the same species, C. glabrata and C. tropicalis being the most sensible species with an effect directly related with the extract concentrations tested. A significant antibiofilm formation potential was also observed, namely for C. glabrata and C. tropicalis (biofilm reduction N90%). 5-O-Caffeoylquinic and 3-O-caffeoylquinic acids were themost abundant phenolic compounds identified in the extract, and might be related with the observed bioactive effects. Nevertheless, future studies should be carried out to obtain dose-response curves of the isolated active compounds, in order to perform further preclinically testing to quantify the presence of the most active compounds in the extract.The authors thank the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013), LSRE (Project UID/EQU/50020/2013), N. Martins (SFRH/BD/87658/2012), S. Silva (SFRH/BPD/109053/2015) and L. Barros (SFRH/BPD/107855/2015) grants. The authors would also like to thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Cnpq), and Fundação Araucária for the financial support received. Flávia Tobaldini-Valerio, acknowledge the financial support of CAPES – Proc. 9469/14-1. The authors also thank FCT for the Strategic Project of the UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, FCT and European Union funds (FEDER/COMPETE) for the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP- 01-0124-FEDER-027462).