Health promoting potential of herbal teas and tinctures from Artemisia campestris subsp. maritima: from traditional remedies to prospective products

• Published in: Scientific reports 2018-03, Vol.8 (1), p.4689-13, Article 4689
• Main Authors: Pereira, Catarina Guerreiro, Barreira, Luísa, Bijttebier, Sebastiaan, Pieters, Luc, Marques, Cátia, Santos, Tamára F., Rodrigues, Maria João, Varela, João, Custódio, Luísa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/61/447; 692/700/459/1994; Acids; alpha-Glucosidases - metabolism; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - analysis; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Artemisia - chemistry; Artemisia campestris; Biotechnology; Cell Line; Cell lines; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Coumarin; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Dunes; Flavonoids; Folk medicine; Food; Food industry; Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors - analysis; Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors - pharmacology; Halophytes; Health Promotion; Hep G2 Cells; Herbal medicine; Herbal tea; High-performance liquid chromatography; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Liquid chromatography; Monophenol Monooxygenase - antagonists & inhibitors; multidisciplinary; Natural products; Pharmaceuticals; Phenols; Phytochemicals; Phytochemicals - analysis; Phytochemicals - pharmacology; Plant Components, Aerial - chemistry; Plant extracts; Plant Preparations - chemistry; Plant Roots - chemistry; Raw materials; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spectrometry; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Teas, Herbal - analysis; Toxicity; α-Glucosidase
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23038-6

This work explored the biotechnological potential of the medicinal halophyte Artemisia campestris subsp. maritima (dune wormwood) as a source of health promoting commodities. For that purpose, infusions, decoctions and tinctures were prepared from roots and aerial-organs and evaluated for in vitro antioxidant, anti-diabetic and tyrosinase-inhibitory potential, and also for polyphenolic and mineral contents and toxicity. The dune wormwood extracts had high polyphenolic content and several phenolics were identified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array–mass-spectrometry (UHPLC-PDA-MS). The main compounds were quinic, chlorogenic and caffeic acids, coumarin sulfates and dicaffeoylquinic acids; several of the identified phytoconstituents are here firstly reported in this A. campestris subspecies. Results obtained with this plant’s extracts point to nutritional applications as mineral supplementary source, safe for human consumption, as suggested by the moderate to low toxicity of the extracts towards mammalian cell lines. The dune wormwood extracts had in general high antioxidant activity and also the capacity to inhibit α-glucosidase and tyrosinase. In summary, dune wormwood extracts are a significant source of polyphenolic and mineral constituents, antioxidants and α-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibitors, and thus, relevant for different commercial segments like the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and/or food industries.