Phytochemical Characterization of Natural Leaf Extracts from Achillea ligustica : HRMS Analysis, Antioxidant Activity, and Brine Shrimp Lethality Testing

This research aims to enhance the composition of phenolic compounds, the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of the methanol, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol extracts produced from the leaves of Achillea ligustica, collected in the northeast of Algeria. The measure of extracts' total phenolic and flavonoid contents was performed by the aluminum nitrate and Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric techniques, respectively. The chemical composition was detected using the Liquid Chromatography–High Resolution Mass Spectrometry method. Moreover, the antioxidant activity was investigated by four methods (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and Phenanthroline method), while the cytotoxic effect was evaluated on the phenolic compounds extracted from Achillea ligustica using the brine shrimp lethality test. The obtained data showed that both the highest phenolic (334.29 ± 1.06 µg GAE/mg extract) and the highest flavonoid (92.85 ± 0.15 µg QE/mg extract) contents were identified in the methanolic extract. Also, large spectrum of phenolic acids, flavonoids, and anthocyanins was detected. Besides, in all realized tests highest antioxidant activity was detected in the ethyl acetate extract, while the lowest toxicological potential (LC50 = 502.73 µg/mL) was demonstrated in the n-butanol extract. Finally, the methanolic extract induced the highest mortality rate in Artemia salina larvae, reaching 65% at 400µg/mL. The findings of our research revealed that the leaves of Achillea ligustica represent a noteworthy medicinal plant species that merits additional investigation.