Phytochemicals and biological activities of Ruta chalepensis L. growing in Tunisia

In this paper, the chemical composition of different solvent extracts from Ruta chalepensis L. was determined and their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were evaluated. Indeed, the total phenol, flavonoids, ortho-diphenols, tannin and flavonols contents of these extracts were quantified, with a total phenolic content varying from 120.57 to 178.00 mg Gallic acid equivalents per gram of dry extract. The chemical analysis of the composition of these R. chalepensis L. extracts has shown a high content of coumarins and alkaloid compounds. Besides, their antioxidant activities were examined using various in vitro assays: DPPH radical scavenging, β-carotene bleaching method, reducing power and quantification of the total antioxidant capacity. The obtained results have confirmed that the ethanol extract exhibits the most potent antioxidant effect, followed by methanol and methanol/water (1/1) extracts. Furthermore, the ethanol, methanol, methanol/water (1/1) and ethyl acetate extracts were found to have an antibacterial activity against gram positive and gram negative strains.