EVALUATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF ARISTOLOCHIA LONGA L. EXTRACTS

Aristolochia longa L. (Aristolochiacea) is a native plant of Algeria used in traditional medicine. This study was devoted to the determination of polyphenols, flavonoids, and tannins contents of A. longa L. extracts. Extracts were prepared from aerial parts (stems and leaves), fruits and tubers by using various solvents with different polarities such as acetone, methanol and distilled water. Acetone extracts from the aerial parts presented the highest contents of polyphenols (525.43±29.6 µg/mg) followed by fruit aqueous extract (518.54±14.93 µg/mg), while the aerial parts methanol extract shown the highest flavonoid content (52.37±0.94 µg/mg) and exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity of DPPH and reducing power (55.04 ±1.29 µg/mL and 0.2±0.019 mg/mL, respectively), therefore the aerial parts acetone extract  showed the highest antioxidant capacity  in the β-carotene bleaching inhibition test with 57%. For antimicrobial activity, the fruit methanol extract was too efficient against the bacterial strains tested, whereas no effect was observed when these extracts were tested against fungi. The protein denaturation was found in the aerial parts acetone extract to be 78.35±6.18% followed by fruit methanol extract, 68.04±4.72% at the dose 500 µg/mL, with regards to standards diclofenac sodium. These preliminary results could be used to justify the traditional use of this plant and its bioactive substances could be exploited for therapeutic purposes.