Evaluation of Antioxidant and Dermato-protective activities of Origanum vulgare extracts

Medicinal plants represent an economic and accessible natural reservoir of new molecules with biological activities. This study aims to investigate the potential use of "Origanum vulgare", a medicinal plant native to Skikda-Algeria, as a origin of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and photo-protective properties. To this end, the plant's extracts were tested in vitro using four different methods to measure their ability to inhibit free radicals. The extracts were also tested for their capacity to protect skin from sun's rays by measuring their sun protection factor (SPF). The obtained results showed that Origanum vulgare contained high levels of total polyphenols and flavonols with strong antioxidant and photo-protective properties in its extracts, thus suggesting its potential therapeutic applications as a valuable natural resource for the pharmaceutical industry. This plant was also proven to have a very important inhibition of free radicals where ethyl acetate and N butanol extracts had the best IC50 and A0.5 with significant values in some tests lower than the standards. The SPF measure showed high photo-protective activity with an SPF of 47.29±0.00, 47.30±0.00, and 47.21±0.14 respectively. This suggests that the extracts could potentially be used in cosmetic formulations and as a skincare agent. Overall, the plant of Origanum vulgare can represent an interesting source of bioactive compounds, and consequently, the extracts can be useful in the pharmaceutical field for various therapeutic applications.