Bioactive compounds in Lebanese Eryngium creticum L. Section C-Research paper Eur. Chem. Bull., 2015, 4(11), 498-502 DOI: 10.17628/ECB.2015.4.498 498 DETERMINATION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUND CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE LEBANESE ERYNGIUM CRETICUM L. Saeed Zeidan, [a] Akram Hijazi, [a,b]* Hassan Rammal, [a,b,c] Ali Al Bazzal, [a,c] Hussein Annan, [a] and Abd Al- Ameer N. Al-Rekaby [d] Keywords: Flavonoids; phenols; antioxidant activity; microwave-assisted extraction; bioactive compounds. Polyphenolic compounds are bioactive substances widely distributed in the plant kingdom. They act as natural antioxidants and their presence contributes to the color, flavor, and aroma of food. Therefore, they are considered dietary antioxidants with interesting benefits to health. In this article the extraction of total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidants activity from Eryngium creticum was determined after obtaining the plant extracts by conventional and non-conventional extraction techniques. Also this study aims to determine the bioactive constituents present in E. creticum extracts by using GC-MS method. The results obtained show that microwave assisted extraction is the best technique used for the extraction of phenolic compounds and flavonoids from E. creticum giving a yield of 34.46 µg mL -1 and 21.05 µg mL -1 respectively. However, the antioxidants activity, evaluated by the DPPH assay was low in all the extraction techniques. Also the results showed the presence of 9 fatty acid derivatives, most of them have therapeutic effects on human health. These results explain the use of E. creticum in traditional medicine to treat various diseases. * Corresponding Authors Tel: 0096171905768 E-Mail: hijazi_akram@hotmail.com [a] Doctoral School of Science and Technology, Research Platform for Environmental Science (PRASE), Lebanese University, Lebanon [b] Laboratory of Materials and Phytochemistry, Lebanese University, Faculty of sciences. [c xFaculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Lebanese University, Lebanon [d] Al Mustansiriya University, College of Science, Department of Biology, Irak Introduction Oxidative stress is involved in the pathology of cancer, arteriosclerosis, malaria and rheumatoid arthritis, and could play a role in neurodegenerative diseases and aging processes. Antioxidants perform multiple functions, including the defense against oxidative damage and cell signaling. One major function of antioxidants in the biological system is to prevent the cellular components’ damage by the reactive oxygen species. 1 Bioactive compounds in plants are produced as secondary metabolites. These compounds are called so because they are related to substances that exert an effect on living tissues, and are dedicated to help the plants to increase their overall ability to survive and overcome local challenges 2. The bioactive compounds are ubiquitous in nature. They have been identified and isolated from diverse sources within the living organisms. For decades, organic extracts from various origins have been widely used in the traditional medicine, as well as in the food industry, and are considered to be generally safe. 2 Eryngium creticum, a perennial plant belonging to the family Umbellifereae, is considered a medicinal plant due to its antioxidant properties. 3 The latter is characterized by the presence of a wide variety of phenolic acids and flavonoids. In addition to its ability to act as an efficient free radical scavengers, its natural origin is an advantage to all customers, unlike other synthetic antioxidants whose use is being restricted due to its carcinogenicity. 5 E. creticum has also showed an antioxidant property through inhibiting lipid peroxidase in the liver of rat. This plant was traditionally used as a diuretic (emmenagogue). Roots and seeds that are immersed in water, are drunk to treat kidney stones, infections, skin diseases, and tumors. It is also an antidote, in which it is used for treating snake bites. Moreover, E. creticum has an antifungal activity, as well as a hypoglycemic role in which the deduction from the aerial part of this plant showed a significant reduction in the concentration of blood sugar. Also, this plant has shown an anti-inflammatory, as well as an anti-microbial, activity and was also used for the treatment of poisoning, anemia and infertility. 4,5 Finally, its was recently demonstrated that Lebanese E. creticum has an antitumor activity on cervical cancer (HeLa) cell line. 6,7 This study aims to determine the following: the total phenolic content (TPC), the total flavonoid content (TFC), the antioxidant activity, the esterified fatty acids, the humidity, the ach content, and the alkaloid content of the Lebanese Eryngium creticum. In addition, it aims to establish a comparison between the conventional and non- conventional extraction techniques for the total amount of phenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity obtained. Materials and Methods Plant collection and preparation of the powder Fresh plants were gathered from Rowiest Al Ballout (Mount Lebanon) on February 2014. Then, plants were well-cleaned and washed with water, and kept to “shade dry” under the room temperature away from the sunlight. After being dried, the collected plants are grinded (using a