Antioxidant profiling of Anethum graveolens: Insights into phenolic and flavonoid-rich extracts

This study investigates the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant activity, and metal chelation capacity of acetone and water extracts from Anethum graveolens L.. The total phenolic content of the acetone extract was significantly higher (173.49 ± 4.91 µg GAE/mg extract) than the water extract (98.52 ± 3.62 µg GAE/mg extract). Similarly, the flavonoid content of the acetone extract (72.81 ± 1.15 µg QE/mg extract) exceeded that of the water extract (27.69 ± 1.72 µg QE/mg extract). Concentration-dependent responses revealed higher antioxidant activity for the acetone extract across all tested concentrations (12.5–400 µg/mL), with a sharper increase in response at higher concentrations. The IC50 values for DPPH radical scavenging and metal chelation activities further confirmed the acetone extract's superior performance, with lower IC50 values for DPPH scavenging (51.56 µg/mL) and metal chelation (113.46 µg/mL) compared to the water extract (192.44 µg/mL and 268.95 µg/mL, respectively). Hierarchical clustering and 3-D surface plot analyses demonstrated strong correlations between DPPH scavenging and metal chelation activities for both extracts, with Pearson correlation coefficients of r = 0.94 for the acetone extract and r = 0.99 for the water extract. While the acetone extract displayed higher bioactivity, the water extract exhibited a more tightly linked relationship between its antioxidant and metal chelation properties. These findings highlight the potential of A. graveolens extracts as natural antioxidants and metal chelators, offering promising applications for oxidative stress mitigation and metal toxicity management.