Phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of Sideritis lycia and Sideritis libanotica subsp. linearis: Effects of cultivation, year and storage

Flowered verticillasters of Sideritis lycia Boiss. & Heldr. and Sideritis libanotica Labill. subsp. linearis (Benth.) Bornm. are used as herbal tea. In the present study, these plants were tried to be cultivated and phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of the wild and cultivated plants were compared. Total phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant activity of S. lycia and S. libanotica subsp. linearis were found in the range of 16.05-18.04 and 9.16-10.49 g gallic acid equivalent/kg dw, 9.70-14.30 and 5.41-9.68 g catechin equivalent/kg dw and 6.57-8.71 and 13.88-19.04 g dw/g DPPH, respectively. Total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of the wild plants were determined to be higher than cultivated samples. Major phenolic acids were p-coumaric, caffeic and ferulic acids, while the main flavonoids were quercetin, morin and apigenin. Consecutive harvesting year and storage period did not cause remarkable differences on the analysed parameters, in general. Phenolic compounds of the both plants were decreased during storage, in general.