Abstract:
Teucrium chamaedrys L. is a plant widely used in traditional medicine known as "Balut al arth". The present work aims to study the phytochemical composition and evaluate the antioxidant, antibacterial and anti- inflammatory activities of the methanolic extract of this plant. Extraction was carried out by Soxhlet and the yield was 10.75±1.76%. The colorimetric method revealed that the extract was rich in total polyphenols (229.27±5.85μg EAG/mg Ex) and flavonoids (40.85±0.43μg EQ/mg Ex). The antioxidant activity results showed that the methanolic extract possessed a powerful antioxidant capacity with a CAT of 310.07±6.06μg EAA/mg Ex. In addition, the extract exhibited a high antiradical capacity towards DPPH and ABTS radicals (IC50=28.27±0.87μg/mL and 317.20±2.45μg/mL, respectively). The extract exerted significant reducing power (A0.5=116.19±5.63) and remarkably inhibition of β-carotene bleaching (AA%=77.08±2.63%). Antibacterial activity results showed good activity against B. cereus (MIC=0.39mg/mL). The results of the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity showed that the methanolic extract exhibited significant inhibitory power (IC50= 437.80±21.11μg/mL). On the other hand, the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity in vivo significantly reduced oedema formation, with the highest percentage observed at the dose of 400mg/kg (75.84±5.61%). These results justify the traditional use of this plant, which merits further study.
