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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Functional Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #270002
Title: Rosmarinic acid content in antidiabetic aqueous extract from ocimum canum sims in Ghana

Author
item Berhow, Mark
item AFFUM, ANDREWS OBENG - Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAECGH)

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/27/2011
Publication Date: 7/29/2011
Citation: Berhow, M.A., Affum, A. 2011. Rosmarinic acid content in antidiabetic aqueous extract from ocimum canum sims in Ghana. Meeting Abstract.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Rosmarinic acid (RA) is an important polyphenol that is found in a variety of herbs including Ocimum canum sims (locally called eme or akokobesa in Ghana). Aqueous extracts from the leaves of O. canum are used as an antidiabetic herbal medicine in Ghana. Analytical TLC was used to examine the composition of the polyphenols in leaf extracts. The total polyphenol content in the leaf aqueous and methanol extracts, as determined by Folin - Ciocalteu reagent method, were 314 mg/gae and 315 mg/gae respectively. The total flavonoid concentration as determined by the aluminum (III) chloride method was 135 mg/cathecin equivalents. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to an electrospray Q-TOF mass spectrometer (ESI-Q-TOF MS) was also used to determine the polyphenol fingerprint profile in the leaf extracts of O. canum. The average rosmarinic acid concentration in the O. canum leaf extracts was 1.69 mg/g dry weight. The polyphenolic content in the leaf extract of O. canum sims was attributed predominantly to rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid derivatives.