Food & Function PAPER Cite this: Food Funct., 2018, 9, 4664 Received 12th July 2018, Accepted 14th August 2018 DOI: 10.1039/c8fo01392f rsc.li/food-function Phenolic profile and in vitro bioactive potential of Saharan Juniperus phoenicea L. and Cotula cinerea (Del) growing in Algeria Dalila Ghouti, a,b Wahiba Rached, a,c,d Moussaoui Abdallah, e Tânia C. S. P. Pires, a Ricardo C. Calhelha, a Maria José Alves, a Lazzouni Hamadi Abderrahmane, f Lillian Barros * a and Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira * a The aim of this study was to characterize the individual phenolic profile and antioxidant, anti-inflamma- tory, cytotoxic, and antimicrobial activities of hydroethanolic and infusion extracts prepared from Algerian Saharan Juniperus phoenicea L. and Cotula cinerea (Del). The phenolic profile was determined using a liquid chromatograph coupled to a diode array detector and an electrospray ionization mass spectro- meter (LC-DAD-ESI/MS). A total of thirteen and nine individual phenolic compounds were identified in J. phoenicea and C. cinerea, respectively. 3-p-Coumaroylquinic acid, quercetin- and myricetin-O-pento- side were the major compounds present in J. phoenicea; on the other hand, C. cinerea presented luteo- lin-7-O-glucoside, luteolin-O-malonylhexoside, and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid as the main molecules. In general, all samples exhibited interesting antioxidant activity when compared to the standard Trolox, but J. phoenicea extracts presented the highest bioactivity. Likewise, all the samples exhibited anti-inflamma- tory activity; thus J. phoenicea hydroethanolic extracts showed the highest potential (88 ± 8 μg mL -1 ). In addition, their cytotoxicity was evaluated towards a panel of four selected cell lines (HeLa, NCI-H460, MCF-7 and HepG2), and all the extracts showed cytotoxic effects, with J. phoenicea extracts being the most effective. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the plant extracts was moderate, Gram-positive bac- teria thus being more sensitive than the Gram-negative strains (MIC values between 5 and 20 mg mL -1 ). The present work suggests that J. phoenicea and C. cinerea are sources of bioactive ingredients with potential use in the food and pharmaceutical industries. 1. Introduction Medicinal plants are recognized for their therapeutic effects and biological characteristics, due to the presence of several bioactive substances belonging to different molecule classes, such as terpenoids, alkaloids, and phenolic compounds, like flavonoids, tannins, coumarins and phenolic acids. 1 These biomolecules are widespread in different plant parts, such as fruits, leaves, and seeds. 2 Nowadays, there is an increasing interest in the consumption of phytochemicals, like phenolic compounds, due to their important health effects, which are caused by their protective properties against a variety of path- ologies mainly related with oxidative stress. 3 Many authors have reported the beneficial effects of polyphenols and men- tioned that they present numerous bioactive properties, such as antibacterial, 4,5 antiviral, antifungal, 6 cytotoxic, 7 and anti- inflammatory 8,9 properties. These properties depend on their specific chemical structures 10 and much attention has been paid to the extraction and isolation of polyphenols from herbs having the ability to protect food and living systems from per- oxidative damage. 11 In order to search for effective natural bioactive com- pounds, the current study selected two traditional medicinal plants based on their ethno-pharmacological importance, for a Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal. E-mail: iferreira@ipb.pt, lillian@ipb.pt; Fax: +351-273-325405; Tel: +351-273-303219, +351-273-303285 b Natural Products Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Tlemcen, BP 119 Immama, Tlemcen, Algeria c Laboratory of Plant Biochemistry and Natural Products, Department of Biology, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Oran1, Ahmed Ben Bella, 1524 EL M Naouer, 31000 Oran, Algeria d Department of Biology, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mostaganem, BP 188/227, Mostaganem 2700, Algeria e Laboratory of Plant Resource Development and Food Security in Semi Arid Areas, Department of Biology, University of Bechar, South West of Algeria, BP 417, Algeria f Department of Biology, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Saida, BP 138 ENNASR, 2000 Saida, Algeria 4664 | Food Funct. , 2018, 9, 4664–4672 This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018 Published on 23 August 2018. Downloaded by Instituto Politecnico de Braganca on 1/27/2019 4:06:09 PM. View Article Online View Journal | View Issue