Phytochemical composition and antioxidant activities of <i>Mentha spicata</i> L. and <i>Melissa officinalis</i> L. from the Settat region of Morocco: A comparative study of extraction methods

The growing interest in medicinal plants as natural antioxidant sources has intensified due to their potential applications in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.This study uses various extraction methods to examine the phytochemical composition and antioxidant properties of Mentha spicata and Melissa officinalis from Morocco's Settat region.The research revealed these plants contain rich bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, tannins, polyphenols, glycosides, and alkaloids.M. spicata demonstrated impressive total phenolic content through maceration (398.76 25.45 g GAE/mg), while its flavonoid content reached 3437.79 485.32 g QE/mg through reflux heating.M. officinalis showed significant tannin levels (234.71 24.33 g ATE/mg) using infusion.Antioxidant activities were evaluated using DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays.The reflux heating extract showed remarkable free radical scavenging capacity, with a DPPH IC 50 value of 13.51 1.11 g/mL.Combining both plant extracts produced synergistic effects, with the maceration mixture achieving the highest FRAP value (95.19 6.59 g/mL).These findings suggest that M. spicata and M. officinalis, especially in combination, offer promising potential as natural antioxidant sources for food preservation and health applications.