Can Provence Flora Offer Effective Alternatives to Widely Used Medicinal Plants? A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Activity and Chemical Composition Using Molecular Networking

This study compares the antioxidant properties and phytochemical profiles of three pairs of widely used medicinal plant species to their counterparts from Provence, France: <i>Arnica montana</i> with <i>Pentanema montanum</i> (formerly known as <i>Inula montana), Helichrysum italicum</i> with <i>Helichrysum stoechas</i>, and <i>Satureja hortensis</i> with <i>Satureja montana</i>. Phytochemical composition has been investigated using UHPLC-HRMS/MS and molecular networking, revealing chemical profiles dominated by phenylpropanoids and flavonoids, with lignans, sesquiterpene lactones, or polyketides aside. Well-plate DPPH/ABTS assays were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of extracts, and post-column assays were used to identify antioxidant compounds. The three Provence species demonstrated comparable or superior antioxidant activities to their counterparts, primarily attributed to phenolic compounds such as mono- and di-caffeoylquinic acids, quercetagetin-7-O-glucoside, and myricetin acetylhexoside. These findings show the potential of Provence species to be substituted for some overharvested medicinal plants. This research supports biodiversity conservation while promoting the integration of these local species into pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and food industries.