Study of the chemical composition and evaluation of the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of Taxus baccata L.

Abstract

This work focuses on the search for natural molecules with biological activity that can be used to find alternatives to synthetic products by studying the chemical composition and evaluating the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of the extract of Taxus baccata (L.). HPLC-UV chromatography was employed to determine its chemical composition, while the antioxidant activity was determined using DPPH radical scavenging method and cyclic voltammetry. The broth dilution method was used to achieve antibacterial activity against in total 14 different foodborne pathogenic bacteria, with 4 being Gram-positive and 10 being Gram-negative. The results of the analysis of the extract studied by HPLC-UV made it possible to identify about ten phenolic compounds. Salicylic acid (18.8 µg/mg), gallic acid (5.45 µg/mg), quercitin (4.8 µg/mg), rutin (3.98 µg/mg), hydroxybenzoic acid (3.34 µg/ mg), caffeine (1 µg/mg), caffeic acid (0.267 µg/mg) and vanillin (0.258 µg/mg). the antioxidant activity showed an interesting antiradical activity, the voltammogram also shows an oxidation peak relating to the oxidation of the phenolic compounds contained in Taxus baccata (L.). The antibacterial activity results show significant antibacterial properties against Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains.