Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of Nepeta fissa - first report from Iran.

In recent years, scientific interest in natural products has burgeoned. The genus Nepeta is one of the most important medicinal plants belongs to family Lamiaceae. In this study, the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant potential and distribution of individual phenolic compounds by HPLC-MS/MS were determined in native Nepeta fissa Benth species. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant capacity (by DPPH and FRAP assays) values were measured in N. fissa as 43.07 mg GAE/g dw, 3.77 mg q/g dw, 197.85 µg/mL (IC₅₀ value) and 1.15 μmol Fe⁺⁺/g dw, respectively. The most abundant flavonoid, phenolic acid, and anthraquinone in the analyzed N. fissa extracts were rutin, ferulic acid, and chrysophanol, respectively. As a conclusion, results of present study showed that N. fissa was rich in some phenolic compounds and exhibited antioxidant activity. The obtained results can provide new safe resources to the development of new products for the pharmaceutical industries.