1 H NMR based metabolic profiling of eleven Algerian aromatic plants and evaluation of their antioxidant and cytotoxic properties Nabila Brahmi a,b,1 , Monica Scognamiglio a,1 , Severina Pacifico a, ⁎, Aida Mekhoukhe b , Khodir Madani b , Antonio Fiorentino a , Pietro Monaco a a Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, Second University of Naples, Via Vivaldi 43, I-81100 Caserta, Italy b Laboratoire de Biomathématiques, Biophysique, Biochimie, et Scientométrie (L3BS), Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université de Bejaia, 06000 Bejaia, Algeria abstract article info Article history: Received 7 February 2015 Received in revised form 29 June 2015 Accepted 2 July 2015 Available online xxxx Keywords: Algerian aromatic plants Metabolic profiling NMR analysis Radical scavenging activity Antioxidant activity Cytotoxicity Eleven Algerian medicinal and aromatic plants (Aloysia triphylla, Apium graveolens, Coriandrum sativum, Laurus nobilis, Lavandula officinalis, Marrubium vulgare, Mentha spicata, Inula viscosa, Petroselinum crispum, Salvia officinalis, and Thymus vulgaris) were selected and their hydroalcoholic extracts were screened for their antirad- ical and antioxidant properties in cell-free systems. In order to identify the main metabolites constituting the ex- tracts, 1 H NMR-based metabolic profiling was applied. Data obtained emphasized the antiradical properties of T. vulgaris, M. spicata and L. nobilis extracts (RACI 1.37, 0.97 and 0.93, respectively), whereas parsley was the less active as antioxidant (RACI -1.26). When the cytotoxic effects of low and antioxidant doses of each extract were evaluated towards SK-N-BE(2)C neuronal and HepG2 hepatic cell lines, it was observed that all the extracts weakly affected the metabolic redox activity of the tested cell lines. Overall, data strongly plead in favor of the use of these plants as potential food additives in replacement of synthetic compounds. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Plants used primarily for their medicinal or aromatic properties in pharmacy or perfumery are defined as medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). Many plants defined as MAPs are also used for cosmetic pur- poses, so that the definition medicinal, aromatic and cosmetic (MAC) plants would better describe such plants (Lubbe & Verpoorte, 2011). In terms of production of industrial products/fine chemicals from plants, some plants defined as MAPs and MACs can also be used in the produc- tion of dyes, colorants and crop protection products. Health products, nutraceuticals or dietary supplements based on medicinal and aromatic plants have also gained popularity. The beneficial properties of these plants seemed to be ascribed to their content in phytochemicals (Dias, Barros, Sousa, & Ferreira, 2012), and in particular to their richness in phenolic compounds (Guimarães et al., 2013). Polyphenols are bioactive secondary metabolites, commonly found in both edible and inedible plants (Wojdyło, Oszmiański, & Czemerys, 2007; da Silva Port's, Chisté, Godoy, & Prado, 2013; Kaiser, Kammerer, & Carle, 2013), which, nowadays, attract special attention due to their health-promoting characteristics (Sumbul, Ahmad, & Mohd, 2011). Phenolic compounds in plants are closely associated with their antioxi- dant activity, which is mainly due to their redox properties and their ca- pacity to counteract the over-production of reactive oxygen species (Sharma, Bhushan Jha, Shanker Dubey, & Pessarakli, 2012). These natu- ral products, with considerable diversity in their structure, contribute to flavor, color and sensory properties of plants. Cells respond to polyphe- nols mainly through direct interactions with receptors or enzymes in- volved in signal transduction, which may result in modification of the redox status of the cell and may trigger a series of redox-dependent re- actions (Scalbert, Johnson, & Saltmarsh, 2005). Both antioxidant and prooxidant effects of polyphenols have been described, with contrasting effects on cell physiologic processes. As antioxidants, polyphenols may improve cell survival; as prooxidants, they may induce apoptosis and prevent tumor growth. However, the biological effects of polyphenols may extend well beyond the modulation of oxidative stress (Scalbert et al., 2005). The high antioxidant power of herbal extract is of particular interest to food industry. In fact, oxidative deterioration of food prod- ucts during processing and storages produces off-flavor, which affects their marketability, and different oxidized metabolites, which seem to be involved in some disease conditions (Hossain, Brunton, Barry-Ryan, Martin-Diana, & Wilkinson, 2008). As the use of synthetic antioxidants, such as butyl hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and tert-butylated hydroquinone (TBHQ) has been strongly regulated due to their toxic effects, medicinal and aromatic plants are thought to Food Research International xxx (2015) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: severina.pacifico@unina2.it (S. Pacifico). 1 These authors contributed equally to this work. FRIN-05912; No of Pages 8 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2015.07.005 0963-9969/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Research International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres Please cite this article as: Brahmi, N., et al., 1 H NMR based metabolic profiling of eleven Algerian aromatic plants and evaluation of their antioxidant and cytotoxic properties, Food Research International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2015.07.005