ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Polyphenols, radical scavenger activity, short-chain organic acids and heavy metals of several plants extracts from “Bucharest Delta”

Eugenia Dumitra Teodor, Florentina Gatea, Camelia Albu, Cristina Maria Rădulescu, Ana Chira, and Gabriel Lucian Radu

National Institute for Biological Sciences, Centre of Bioanalysis, 296 Spl. Independentei, 060031 Bucharest, Romania

E-mail: flori_g_alexia@yahoo.com

Abstract: Some plants collected (Mentha aquatica, Bidens tripartita and Ambrosia artemisiifolia) from an unusual habitat developed in recent years in Bucharest (the so-called “Bucharest Delta”) and the contents of polyphenolic compounds, short-chain organic acids and heavy metals, and radical scavenger activity, were determined. 12 polyphenolic compounds and 7 short-chain organic acids were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis; Mentha aq. extracts presented the highest levels of rosmarinic acid (1.58 mg g⁻¹) and ferulic acid (2.84 mg g⁻¹) and Bidens extracts presented the highest concentrations of chlorogenic acid (0.44 mg g⁻¹); the same extracts contain the most important levels of luteolin (0.52 mg g⁻¹) or other flavonoids. All the heavy metals detected in the plants studied were found in very low levels (the highest was Pb(II) in Mentha aquatica, (12.84 ± 0.48) μg kg⁻¹). The study sought to identify the active compounds and some contaminants in plants collected from the “Bucharest Delta” with the intention of eventual exploitation of the habitat and to enhance the knowledge of such human-modified ecosystems.

Keywords: polyphenols – radical scavenger activity – organic acids – heavy metals – wetland plants

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2015-0177

Chemical Papers 69 (12) 1582–1590 (2015)