Leonurus cardiaca L. (Lamiaceae) is a perennial herb distributed in Asia and Southeastern Europe and has been used in traditional medicine since antiquity for its role against cardiac and gynecological disorders. The polar extracts obtained from L. cardiaca aerial parts contain several compounds among which alkaloids, iridoids, labdane diterpenes, and phenylethanoid glycosides play a major role in conferring protection against the aforementioned diseases. On the other hand, the antioxidant activities and the enzyme inhibitory properties of these extracts have not yet been deeply studied. On the above, in the present study, crude and purified extracts were prepared from the aerial parts of L. cardiaca and have been chemically characterized by spectrophotometric assays and HPLC-DAD-MS analyses. Notably, the content of twelve secondary metabolites, namely phenolic acids (chlorogenic, caffeic, caffeoylmalic and trans-ferulic acids), flavonoids (rutin and quercetin), phenylethanoid glycosides (verbascoside and lavandulifolioside), guanidine pseudoalkaloids (leonurine), iridoids (harpagide), diterpenes (forskolin), and triterpenes (ursolic acid), has been determined. Furthermore, the extracts were tested for their antioxidant capabilities (phosphomolybdenum, DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, CUPRAC, and ferrous chelating assays) and enzyme inhibitory properties against cholinesterase, tyrosinase, amylase, and glucosidase. The purified extracts contained higher phytochemical content than the crude ones, with caffeoylmalic acid and verbascoside as the most abundant compounds. A linear correlation between total phenolics, radical scavenging activity, and reducing power of extracts has been found. Notably, quercetin, caffeic acid, lavandulifolioside, verbascoside, chlorogenic acid, rutin, and ursolic acid influenced the main variations in the bioactivities found in L. cardiaca extracts. Our findings provide further insights into the chemico-biological traits of L. cardiaca and a scientific basis for the development of nutraceuticals and food supplements.

中文翻译：

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粗制和纯化的益母草提取物的植物化学特征和生物活性

益母草（唇形科）是多年生草本植物，分布于亚洲和东南欧，自古以来就因其对心脏和妇科疾病的作用而被用于传统医学。从心脏心叶地上部分获得的极性提取物包含几种化合物，其中生物碱，虹彩化合物，拉丹烷二萜和苯基乙醛糖苷在赋予针对上述疾病的保护中起主要作用。另一方面，这些提取物的抗氧化活性和酶抑制性能尚未得到深入研究。综上所述，在本研究中，从cardiac门草的地上部分制备了粗制和纯化的提取物并已通过分光光度法测定和HPLC-DAD-MS分析进行了化学表征。值得注意的是，十二种次级代谢产物的含量，即酚酸（绿原酸，咖啡酸，咖啡酰苹果酸和反式-阿魏酸），类黄酮（芦丁和槲皮素），苯乙醛糖苷（verbascoside和lavandulifolioside），胍类假生物碱（leonurine），虹彩化合物（harpagide），二萜烯（forskolin）和三萜烯（熊果酸）。此外，还测试了提取物的抗氧化能力（钼，DPPH，ABTS，FRAP，CUPRAC和亚铁螯合测定法）以及对胆碱酯酶，酪氨酸酶，淀粉酶和葡萄糖苷酶的酶抑制特性。纯化的提取物比粗提取物具有更高的植物化学含量，其中咖啡酰苹果酸和马齿bas甙是最丰富的化合物。已发现总酚类，自由基清除活性和提取物的还原能力之间存在线性关系。值得注意的是，槲皮素，咖啡酸，lavandulifolioside，马齿bas甙，绿原酸，L.cardia提取物。我们的研究结果提供了进一步深入了解的化学-生物学特性L. cardiaca和营养品和食品补充剂的发展提供了科学依据。