Phenolic contents and biological activities of Tanacetum kotschyi (Boiss.) Grierson and Tanacetum tomentellum (Boiss.) Grierson extracts

Plants have been used for therapeutic purposes since ancient times because of their healing effects. In present study, T. kotschyi (Boiss.) Grierson and Tanacetum tomentellum (Boiss.) Grierson plants were collected from Van and Bitlis province and the extracts were prepared from them. Then, 14 different phenolic contents were determined. Since the phenolics are known as antioxidants, the importance of antioxidants properties of the plants is emphasized in many studies. For this purpose, the extracts were prepared from these plants and in vitro biological activities were investigated. Firstly, total antioxidant activities, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities and iron and cupric reduction activities were measured using the extracts and the results were compared with the standard antioxidants (Butylated hidroxyanisole: BHA, Butylated hidroxitoluen: BHT and α-tocopherol: α-toc). Today, the plants are used as an alternative treatment in many skin disease caused by microorganism and in the treatment of several diseases such as cancer. In this aspect, it is an undeniable fact that plants are at the focal point of many research. For this purpose, the antimicrobial activities of the extracts on 10 different microorganisms and the DNA protective properties on pBR322 plasmid DNA were determined. According to the phenolic results, In addition to the absence of gallic acid in T. kotschyi and T. tomentellum extracts, salycilic acid could not be detected in T. Kotschyi extract. In vitro antioxidant activities were determined by using total antioxidant activity, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities, FRAP and CUPRAC reduction methods and the results were compared with BHA, BHT and α-tocopherol standard antioxidant results. The ethanol extracts obtained from both plants were found to have close activity to the standards. According to antimicrobial activity results of hollow agar method, T. tomentellum extracts and T. kotschyi were found to have the highest activity on Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans and Klebsiella pneumonia respectively. It was observed that the extracts have antimicrobial effect on all test microorganisms. on the contrary, only T. kotschyi extract had no antifungal effect on Saccharomyces cereviciae. Finally, the protective effects of extracts on DNA were investigated. T. kotschyi extract had no protective effect on plasmid DNA however; T. tomentellum extract was able to stabilize the DNA by eliminating the scavenging effect of H2O2 + DMSO. Data from this study show that extracts generally have strong biological activities