Evaluation of Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Content, Antioxidant Capacity and Resveratrol of Selected Medicinal Plants of Northern Iran

Medicinal plants are source of bioactive molecules with antioxidant activity, which are well-known due to their health effects. Identification and quantitation of these compounds helps to evaluate the therapeutic properties of medicinal herbs. In this study total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant capacity and resveratrol in fourteen species were estimated using Folin-Ciocalteu method, aluminium chloride colorimetric assay, DPPH radical scavenging capacity and liquid chromatography, respectively. Among plant materials the highest total phenolic was observed in Iranian barberry (Berberis integerrima Bunge.) and the highest total flavonoid was recorded in persicaria bistorta (Polygonum bistorta L.), while remarkable high antioxidant capacity was noticed in small-flowered black hawthorn (Crataeagus pyntagyna Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd). Wild grape (Vitis vinifera L. ssp. silvestris) was the richest source of trans-resveratrol (14.0±0.90 mg/100g DW). Further studies of these herbs would help knowing pharmaceutical potential of the northern Iran plants