Antioxidant constituents in feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) extract and their chromatographic quantification

Medicinal herb feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) has been reported to possess prophylactic properties over migraine and arthritis. However, less attention has been given to its antioxidant activities. In our study the antioxidant activities of the feverfew extract and its bioactive components in terms of their free radical-scavenging activities against the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and their Fe2+-chelating capacities were determined. In addition, the bioactive constituents in feverfew were determined by GC–MS and HPLC–UV. The results showed that feverfew powder extracted by 80% alcohol contained camphor, parthenolide, luteolin and apigenin in 0.30 ± 0.08%, 0.22% ± 0.03%, 0.84% ± 0.10% and 0.68% ± 0.07%, respectively. Total phenolic content of the feverfew extract was measured in 21.21 ± 2.11 μg gallic acid equivalent per mg dry material. The feverfew alcoholic extract possessed a strong DPPH free radical-scavenging activity of 84.4% and moderate Fe2+-chelating capacity of 53.1%. Luteolin also showed strong DPPH scavenging activity of approximately 80% at ⩾ 0.52 mg/mL. Parthenolide exhibited weak DPPH scavenging activity of 15% and moderate Fe2+-chelating capacity of nearly 60%. Similar moderate Fe2+-chelating activity (approximately 60%) was observed for luteolin and apigenin at 2 mg/mL.