Total flavonoids content, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of extracts from Mosla chinensis Maxim. cv. Jiangxiangru

- Total flavonoids content of each extract (PEE, EAE, WSBE and WPE) was determined.
- Antioxidant activities were compared among four extracts.
- Antimicrobial activities of ethyl acetate extract (EAE) were determined.
- Three compositions of EAE were identified by HPLC-MS.

Flavonoids from plants always show a wide range of biological activities. In this present study, total flavonoids were first extracted with 60% ethanol from the whole plant of Mosla chinensis Maxim. cv. Jiangxiangru. Then the 60% ethanol extract was concentrated and re-extracted with petroleum ether (PEE), ethyl acetate (EAE) and water-saturated n-butanol (WSBE) successively, and component remaining in the water phase was named WPE. Among them, EAE containing a total flavonoids content of 703.8 ± 5.1 mg RE/g DW, exhibited the strongest antioxidant activities in ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and β-carotene bleaching tests. In addition, EAE also possessed the highest antimicrobial activity against Rhizopus oryzae among seven selected microorganisms, with an inhibition zone diameter of 13.7 ± 2.4 mm at 100 mg/mL. Caffeic acid, quercetin-3-O-glucoside (galactoside) and luteolin-4′,7-dimethyl ether-5-O-xyloside were identified by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) method. These results illuminated a potential market role for Mosla chinensis Maxim. cv. Jiangxiangru as a functional food ingredient or nutraceutical.