The antioxidant profile of Solidago species

Abstract

Introduction. Antioxidants from natural sources are valuable bioactive compounds with welldemonstrated health potential for use in several human disorders. Some species of genus Solidago represent a rich source of natural compounds with multi-pharmacological properties, including phenolic compounds which express antioxidant activity. Aim of the study. This paper provides a review of current studies on antioxidant activity of Solidago species. The main purpose of the research represents the evaluation of the correlation between phytochemical characteristics and antioxidative properties of Solidago species, and methods used for determination of their antioxidant activity. Materials and methods. The bibliographic complex study was performed using the databases of scientific references: PubMed, ResearchGate, GoogleScholar and ScienceDirect. Results. In recent years, great interest has been focused on researching and using natural antioxidants in medicine and pharmacy applications, due to their considerable biological value.Several in vitro and in vivo studies revealed that the presence of phenolic compounds in plant extracts could be related with important biological properties, such as antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial and anticancer activities. One of the main groups of biologically active compounds in Solidago species (goldenrods) is represented by phenolic compounds. According to the bibliographic review, the profile of phenolic compounds in Solidago species varies significantly in qualitative and quantitative composition and strongly depend on the species, plant part, ontogenetic development, geographic regions and environmental conditions. It was revealed the widely used methods for determination of phytochemical and antioxidant profiles of goldenrods, such as HPLC post-column assays, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity assays, using the reference antioxidant Trolox. It was evaluated the principal radical scavengers in chemical profile of goldenrods: phenolic compounds of sp. S. canadensis and S. virgaurea differed with predominant antioxidant activity of rutin, chlorogenic and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acids; of sp. S. gigantea − quercitrin, chlorogenic and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acids; of sp. S. graminifolia − chlorogenic acid, quercitrin and hyperoside. Consequently, these compounds can be considered as antioxidant activity markers in phytochemical profiles of the corresponding Solidago species. Conclusions. Several studies predict the importance of Solidago species as valuable raw materials of biologically active phenolic compounds, which express important pharmacological effects and possess antioxidant activity.