Antioxidant Potential, DNA Protection, and HPLC-DAD Analysis of Neglected Medicinal Jurinea dolomiaea Roots

Jurinea dolomiaea Boiss., family Compositae, is a medicinally important plant of alpine region. Its tuberous roots are used in various ailments in folk medicine. This study was undertaken to estimate total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid contents (TFC) and to determine anti-free radical potential by diverse in vitro antioxidant assays. Crude methanol extract (JDME) was fractionated into n-hexane (JDHE), chloroform (JDCE), ethyl acetate (JDEE), n-butanol (JDBE), and aqueous (JDAE) fractions. The results indicated that JDEE and JDCE constituted the highest amount of TFC (807 ± 7.2 mg rutin equivalent/g sample) and TPC (757 ± 9.4 mg gallic acid equivalent/g sample), respectively. Significant correlation of TFC with IC50 values was recorded for (•)OH (R (2) = 0.91), H2O2 (R (2) = 0.82), and ABTS (R (2) = 0.82) assay. It could be made clear that JDEE was the most potent in antioxidant activity as compared to others, with generally lower IC50 values for DPPH (41.1 ± 1.0  μ g/mL), ABTS (46.7 ± 0.6  μ g/mL), H2O2 (42.2 ± 0.9  μ g/mL), (•)OH (61.1 ± 1.1  μ g/mL), O2 (-) (152 ± 1.1  μ g/mL), and antilipid peroxidation (54.3 ± 1.6  μ g/mL). HPLC chromatogram of JDEE revealed the presence of catechin, caffeic acid, and rutin. The results indicated the antioxidant activities of J. dolomiaea roots and merit further investigations for their use in oxidative stress related disorders.