Antioxidant activity of Vitex Agnus Castus subcritical CO2 extracts from two different regions of Albania

Abstract

Medicinal plants include various types of botanicals used in herbalism, known and employed for their variety of medical usefulness. Recently, there has been a great interest in obtaining natural antioxidants from plant materials, as studies show that most of them possess significant antioxidant activity, and some of their phytotherapeutic potential properties include antimicrobial activity, antineoplastic, antidiabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, immunomodulatory, and in some cases, renoprotective or hepatoprotective effects are observed. The aim of this study is to differentiate the biological activity of the same plant (Vitex agnus castus) as a result of geographical variety. The plants used for this study are harvested in two separate Albanian regions, (Milot and Qeparo) extracted with subcritical CO2 extraction method. The extracts were analyzed for antioxidant activities using the DDPH assays and the composition of the botanical extract was analyzed with 436-GC FID detector (Scion Instrument). The major compound detected in black and green fruits of Vitex agnus castus, collected in Milot, was (E)-trans- β- respectively 22.01% and 20.47% and in CO2 extracts of Qeparo fruits (E) -Farnesene 20.1%. The plants collected in northern Albania resulted with a higher antioxidant activity compared to the plants collected in southern Albania. A significant difference was also noticed between the two maturation stages of the Vitex agnus castus fruit, the black fruit resulted to be more active than the green.