The study of polyphenolic compounds of Pimpinella anisum herb and determination of their antioxidant activity

Aim. To study the qualitative composition and quantitative content of the polyphenolic compounds in Pimpinella anisum herb and determine their antioxidant activity.Results and discussion. Among the polyphenolic compounds contained in anise herb, chlorogenic acid(4.409 mg/g) predominates. Signifcant amounts of catechins (3.104 mg/g), apigenin derivatives (3.077 mg/g) and luteolin (1.864 mg/g) also accumulate in the herb. Minor amounts of myricetin (0.105 mg/g) and naringenin (0.019 mg/g) derivatives, rutin (0.189 mg/g), quercetin (0.028 mg/g), apigenin (0.009 mg/g) and hesperetin (0.002 mg/g) are present. According to the research results, the antioxidant activity of polyphenolic compounds of anise herb with reference to ascorbic acid was found to be 67.76 ± 0.05 mmol/g. Rutin exhibited the antioxidant activity at the level of 3979.59 ± 0.08 mmol/g.Experimental part. Pimpinella anisum herb collected during the flowering stage in the summer of 2019 inthe Kharkiv region (Ukraine) was used for analysis. The analysis of 70 % ethanolic extract from anise herb was performed by high performance liquid chromatography using a Prominence LC-20 Shimadzu chromatographic system (Japan) with a SPD-20AV spectrophotometric detector, an Agilent Technologies Microsorb-MV-150 column (reversedphase, C18 modifed silica gel, length – 150 mm, diameter – 4.6 mm, particles size – 5 μm). Identifcation of substances in the extract was carried out by comparing the retention time and the spectral characteristics of the test substances with the same characteristics of the reference standards. The antioxidant activity was determined by the potentiometric method (pH meter – Hanna 2550, with redox electrode EZDO PO50) with reference to ascorbic acid.Conclusions. The qualitative composition and quantitative content of polyphenolic compounds in the ethanolic extract of anise herb have been determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The total content of polyphenolic compounds is 17.576 mg/g. The antioxidant activity of polyphenolic compounds of anise herb with reference to ascorbic acid has been found to be 67.76 ± 0.05 mmol/g.Key words: polyphenolic compounds; anise; herb; high performance liquid chromatography; antioxidant activity