Evaluation of some bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of leaf methanolic extract and flower essential oil content from different cultivars of Chrysanthemum morifolium

Chrysanthemum morifolium is an important ornamental and medicinal herb in the world. Available reports revealed the presence of different organic and antioxidant compounds in different chrysanthemum cultivars. Also many biological characteristics such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-virus are known for this plant. In this study, thirteen cultivars of C. morifolium were compared in terms of leaves total phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant activity and also for their flower essential oil content.
Material and This research was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications at the research farm of Isfahan University of Technology in 2015. For this purpose, methanol extracts were prepared from the dried leaves of different cultivars. Total phenolic and flavonoid was measured using spectrophotometry method and measurement of antioxidant activity was done using two model systems, DPPH and ferric reducing power. Essential oil extraction from ground dried flowers was carried out using a Clevenger-type apparatus and essential oil percentage was calculated. The results of analysis of variance showed that Chrysanthemum cultivars were significantly different for all studied phytochemical traits. According to the obtained results, total phenol and flavonoid contents and IC50 values in different cultivars were ranged from 17.63-33.20 mg/g DW, 12.62-53.17 mg quercetin/g, and 54-228 μg/ml respectively. The highest phenolic content was in cultivar “Poya3” (33.20 mg/g DW), whereas the cultivar “Sahand2” (17.63 mg/g DW) contained the lowest value. Also, in terms of total flavonoid content, cultivars “Marmar” and “Sahand 2” had the highest and the lowest flavonoids with 53.17 and 12.62 mg quercetin per gram, respectively. Regarding FTC model system the absorbance rate of different cultivars was variable between 1.30-2.03. Cluster analysis divided all studied cultivars into five groups. The essential oil content ranged from 0.07 to 0.53% (w/w) among the different cultivars. Also, investigated cultivars showed high variation for their essential oil contents. In overall, the results revealed high antioxidant activity in most of the studied cultivars. So, the extract of Chrysanthemum leaves can be introduced as a suitable source of natural antioxidants. Also, in this study, the cultivars Marmar, Atash2 and Erica in terms of phytochemical traits and the cultivar Dorna2 for higher content of essential oil were superior than the others. Therefore, it can be expected that the cross between cultivars “Marmar”, “Atash2” and “Erica” with cultivars in Group V (Derna 2 and Sahand 2) can improve the varieties in this group in terms of biological and antioxidant compounds.