Phenolic Profile, Antioxidant Activity, and Litholytic Cholesterol Properties of Algerian Bunium incrassatum L. Extracts

Bunium incrassatum (Apiaceae), widely cultivated along Africa's Mediterranean frontier. It has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bronchitis, antibacterial, and anti-cancer impacts. This investigation estimates the chemical composition of methanolic extracts from the roots (MERO), seeds (MESE), and stems (MEST) of B. incrassatum using high-performance liquid chromatography/ultraviolet (HPLC/UV), antioxidant and litholytic effects in vitro. The Fourier Transform Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR-ATR) identified cholesterol gallstones. These gallstones were classified into low, medium, and high weight groups and subjected to agitation with B. incrassatum extracts for 9 weeks. The control was sodium chloride (NaCl, 9 g/L). Weekly, gallstones were weighed after 18 h of drying at 40 °C, and their gallstones-dissolving capacity percentage; (% GDC) and the experimental medium pH were assessed. HPLC/UV analysis shows MESE has 25 phenolic compounds, MERO 24, and MEST 21. Furthermore, MESE exhibited the highest phenolic levels (70.80 mg GAE/g DE, 18.44 mg QE/g DE) and the highest antiradicalaire activity among the extracts tested, with a median inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.23 mg/mL for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging and 0.66 mg/mL for ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Highly substantial (P < 0.001) rise in % GDC was noted, with decreasing effectiveness in the following order: MERO, MESE, and MEST compared to the control throughout the trial, associated with phenolic composition, gallstone weight, and research duration. This study showed the importance of the phytochemical, antioxidant, and litholytic characteristics of Bunium incrassatum extract, affirming its possibilities in pharmacological approaches to treating cholelithiasis.