Etude comparative de l’activité biologique de deux plantes médicinales Bunium incrassatum et Bunium fontanesii

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of hydromethanolic extracts from two plants, Bunium incrassatum (BI) and Bunium fontanesii (BF). The extraction yields obtained were 10.36% for BI and 15.87% for BF. Analysis of phenolic compound revealed that BI is richer in total polyphenols (29.38±0.06 μg EAG/mg of extract) than BF (5.97±1.52 μg EAG/mg of extract), whilst BF has a higher flavonoid content (1.99±0.026 μg EQ/mg of extract) compared with BI (0.85±0.85 μg EQ/mg of extract). Assessment of antioxidant activity against the DPPH radical showed that BF possesses greater antioxidant power (IC₅₀ = 0.435 mg/ml) than BI (IC₅₀ = 1.06 mg/ml). The AAPH-induced anti-haemolytic test, which assesses the samples’ ability to protect erythrocytes against oxidative stress, showed that the BFMeOH extract provided maximum protection with an HT50 of 97 minutes at a concentration of 1 mg/ml, whilst the BIMeOH extract exhibited a significantly longer HT50 (83 min) at the same dose, although this difference was not statistically significant. Anti-inflammatory activity, as assessed using the xylene model, reached 84.47±3.32% for the BFMeOH extract at a dose of 150 mg/ml and 67.92% for the BIMeOH extract at a dose of 300 mg/ml. Analgesic activity in the acetic acid-induced writhing test showed a maximum inhibition of 73.73±3.47 % for the BFMeOH extract and 57.46% for BIMeOH at the same dose (300 mg/ml). The AAPH-induced haemolysis assay, which demonstrates the samples’ ability to protect erythrocytes against oxidative stress, showed that the BFMeOH extract provided maximum protection with an HT50 of 97 minutes at a concentration of 1 mg/ml, whilst the BIMeOH extract exhibited a significant HT50 (83 min) at the same dose, albeit slightly lower, and this difference was not statistically significant. The results obtained confirm the biological potential of both species and suggest their value as a natural source of bioactive compounds for therapeutic applications. Purposes Keywords: Bunium incrassatum, Bunium fontanesii, polyphenols, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity, analgesic activity