Untargeted Metabolomic Profiling and Antioxidant Capacities of Different Solvent Crude Extracts of Ephedra foeminea

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the chemical profiles of different solvent (Ace, acetone; DCM/MeOH, dichloromethane/methanol; EtOH, ethanol; EA, ethyl acetate; MeOH, methanol) extracts of Ephedra foeminea collected from Jordan via an untargeted metabolomics approach using NMR, GC-MS, LCMS and analyzing the data through Venn diagrams, PCA plots, and Metabolite Set Enrichment Analysis (MESA), while determining their antioxidant capacities using ABTS assays. Results revealed the dominant chemical groups as amino acids, fatty acids, carboxylic acids, and carbohydrates, it was also found that the DCM/MeOH and MeOH extracts had the most distinct composition and most unique compounds. The methanolic extract was relatively the most potent in the ABTS assay (IC50 249.6 µg/mL). In conclusion, solvents influenced the recovery of metabolites in E. foeminea and the antioxidant activity of the E. foeminea methanolic extract could be correlated to the abundant presence of diverse bioactive compounds.