Antioxidant, Antifungal and Phytochemical Investigations of Capparis spinosa L.

Abstract

The antioxidant and antifungal activities of crude hydro-ethanolic extract from Capparis spinosa L. (Capparidaceae) leaves and their fractions, obtained by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using solvents with increasing polarity (hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water), were investigated. The crude extract and the obtained fractions were characterized by colorimetric analysis, pyrolysis-gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectroscopy (MS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, and their antioxidant and antifungal capacity were determined. It was observed that the ethyl acetate fraction was enriched in polyphenols, the butanol fraction resulted in purified from proteins and the residual aqueous fraction contains more hydrophobic compounds. The evaluation of the antioxidant activity revealed that the ethyl acetate fraction possesses an interesting capacity 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) radical scavenging with a percentage of inhibition of 84.02% at a concentration of 2 mg/mL and better ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) 4.275 ± 0.011 mmol/g of dry sample than the other fractions tested. Regarding the antifungal activity, the diethyl ether fraction showed the highest activity against Aspergillus niger with 58.78% of inhibition. The results obtained in this work showed the relevance of the valorization of the leaves of Capparis spinosa L., given its richness in bioactive molecules can be regarded as a natural source of antioxidant and antifungal and may be considered in the future to replace synthetic preservatives in food, pharmaceutic products and cosmetic.