Filago germanica (L.) Huds. bioactive constituents: Secondary metabolites fingerprinting and in vitro biological assays

Plant from Asteraceae have interesting medicinal potential in traditional medicines and have been studied for different pharmacological effects. This study attempts to describe the phytochemical and biological profiles of dichloromethane (DCM) and methanol (MeOH) extracts of aerial parts and roots of Filago germanica (L.) Huds. Phytochemical composition was assessed by high performance liquid chromatography photodiode array (HPLC-PDA) polyphenolic quantification, and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) secondary metabolites analysis. Biological potential were determined via antioxidant (2, 2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid -ABTS, cupric reducing antioxidant capacity -CUPRAC and metal chelation), enzyme inhibition (α-amylase, tyrosinase and lipoxygenase -LOX) and cytotoxic (SW-480 colon cancer cell line) assays. The HPLC-PDA quantification identified 11 phenolic phytochemicals, amongst epicatechin (1.81 μg/g extract) and syringic acid (2.23 μg/g extract) were present in higher amounts. Similarly, UHPLC-MS analysis of both DCM extracts showed the tentative presence of several flavonoid, alkaloid and terpenoid derivatives as major components. The aerial-MeOH extract was found to possess highest ABTS and CUPRAC antioxidant potential with values of 119.11 and 170.83 mg Trolox equivalent (TE)/g extract, respectively. Root-DCM extract was the most active in the metal chelation assay (22.86 mg ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid equivalent (EDTAE)/g extract). The root-DCM extract was most active against tyrosinase (30.51 mg kojic acid equivalent (KAE)/g extract) and α-amylase (0.30 acarbose equivalent (ACAE)/g extract), while aerial-MeOH extract showed maximum LOX inhibition. Moreover, the aerial parts and root DCM extracts were most active against colon cancer cell line with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 26.95 and 41.62 µg/mL, respectively. Based on the present findings, F. germanica can be viewed as a promising bio-resource for bioprospecting of novel pharmaceuticals and biomedicine industrial products.