Climate influence on chemical composition and antioxidant activity of Justicia pectoralis Jacq.

in this paper, the influence of the altitude in the phenols and flavonoids contents and the antioxidant activity of the extracts of different polarities of justicia pectoralis jacq(acanthaceae) was evaluated. there was found that the plants cultivated under the ibagué-tolima's climate and soil conditions, can be a source of antioxidant compounds, especially in water preparations. the chromatographic analysis revealed that j. pectoralis extracts have mainly flavonoids of the flavonone type, as apigenine. a greater (or the greatest) content of flavonoids was detected in the ethanolic extract of the plant samples grown at 1 265 m.a.s.l. (meters above sea level) (2 748,03 mg/l). the altitude level does not seem to have any influence on the functional properties, neither on the phytophenols content. the j. pectoralis jacq can be considered one species with a high therapeutic potential and with good commercial opportunities.