Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the edible medicinal<i>Ononis natrix</i>growing wild in Tunisia

Abstract

Results showed that leaf methanolic extract of Ononis natrix has important total phenol (51 mg GAE/g DW) and flavonoid (14.76 CE/g DW) contents. The chemical composition of O. natrix leaf revealed the presence of quercitine (24.5%), amentoflavone (14.1%), flavones (11.3%) and kaempferol (10.5%). The leaf extract showed a high total antioxidant activity with 60.94 mg of GAE/g DW, displayed a high 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging ability with low IC50 value (29 μg/mL) and a great reducing power (EC50 = 100 μg/mL). O. natrix leaf extract exhibited a significant broad spectrum activity against all tested microorganisms with bacterial inhibition zone sizes ranging from 8.5 to 17 mm in diameter.