Characterization of Three Lamiaceae Plants from Local Market

Since ancient times plants have constituted a very important raw material for many human activities. The increasing interest in the powerful biological activity of plants emphasized the importance of determining phenolics’ and flavonoids’ content in medicinal plants. The aim of this study was to perform a comparative evaluation of three selected herbs (lemon balm, mint and sage), commercially available in Cluj-Napoca’s market, regarding their content in total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids and antioxidant capacity. The amount of total phenolic compounds from the investigated medicinal plant was quantified using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, while for determination of the total flavonoids, colorimetric assay with aluminum chloride was performed. Antioxidant activity of selected herbs was determined with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) reagent. The total phenolic content was between 2583.93 and 3662.26 mg GAE/100g, while the flavonoids concentration ranged between 1207.12 and 1423.4 mg QE/100g dry plant. It was found that the lemon balm and mint extracts showed the strongest antioxidant capacity, while sage is less active, these results being positively correlated with the concentration of phenolic compounds