Compositions, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Helichrysum (Asteraceae) species collected from Turkey

The methanolic extracts of 16 Helichrysum species were investigated for their in vitro antioxidant, radical scavenging and antimicrobial activities. All the extracts showed strong antioxidant and radical scavenging activity. The highest total antioxidant capacity as ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE) of 194.64 mg/g dry extract was obtained for Helichrysum noeanum in the phosphomolybdenum assay. The highest IC50 value (7.95 μg/ml) was observed for the extract of Helichrysum stoechas subsp. barellieri in the DPPH assay. The total phenolic contents of the extracts ranged from 66.74 to 160.63 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry extract. The major component present in the extracts was identified as chlorogenic acid followed by apigenin-7-glucoside and apigenin by HPLC analysis. All the extracts showed significant antimicrobial activity against microorganisms containing 13 bacteria and two yeasts in the agar diffusion method.