Mechanism of antioxidant action from Tropaeolum Majus based on UHPLC-QTOF-MS and network pharmacology

Tropaeolum majus L. is a medicinal plant used to treat hypertension, urinary tract infections, and upper respiratory infections. Oxidative stress is associated with the occurrence and development of these diseases. Therefore, Tropaeolum majus L. extract could exert antioxidant effects through multiple mechanisms to treat the above related diseases. The purpose of this study was to identify the chemical ingredients in the 70 % ethanol extract of Tropaeolum majus L. (TME) and to explore the antioxidant effect of TME by combining network pharmacology, molecular docking technology, and in vitro experiments. The chemical ingredients of TME were identified based on Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS), and the binding activities of the chemical constituents with the target proteins were investigated by combining network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. Additionally, the antioxidant capacity of TME was further validated by antioxidant experiments in vitro . The results showed that a total of 56 compounds were tentatively identified from the TME, and 44 active ingredients of TME antioxidant were selected. Network analysis predicted 21 key antioxidant-related targets, 222 biological functions and 94 signaling pathways were enriched via network pharmacology technology. The molecular docking results demonstrated that Rosmarinic acid exhibited the highest binding affinity toward EGFR, with a binding energy of −9.7 kcal/mol. The results of antioxidant experiment in vitro showed TME exhibited strong antioxidant capacity and scavenging activity of ABTS and DPPH free radicals. These results could provide reference for promoting the further development and utilization of Tropaeolum majus . • A total of 56 compounds were identified from the TME using UHPLC-QTOF-MS. • A total of 21 core targets were screened, 222 biological functions and 94 signaling pathways were enriched. • The active ingredients had good binding activities with the corresponding target proteins. • TME has good total antioxidant capacity and scavenging activity of ABTS and DPPH free radicals.