HPLC analysis for identification and quantification of phenolic acids and flavonoids in Juniperus excelsa

Abstract

The present study was designed to define the phenolic profile, flavonoid profile and the biological potentials of the ethanol extract of the berries of Juniperus excelsa growing in Lebanon. A total of 11 phenolic compounds, including gallic acid, vanilic acid, hydroxybenzoic acid, sinapic acid, ellagic acid, myrcetin, and hesperitin were identified and quantified in Juniperus excelsa using Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC). The ethanolic extract of the berries of J. excelsa was examined for the antioxidant activity using the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay. The extract showed a strong scavenging activity with an IC50 48.90µg/ml compared to the synthetic antioxidant butylatedhydroxyltoluene (BHT) (IC50 91.40µg/ml). This strong antioxidant activity can be attributed to the total phenolic content (17.95mg/g of extract) and the total flavonoidal content (3.817mg/g of extract) of the extract that were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau (FC) and aluminum chloride methods, respectively.