Phenolic Profile, Antioxidant Activities and Genotoxic Evaluations of Calendula officinalis

Our study aims to evaluate the antioxidant and genotoxic activities obtained from hot water extracts of flowers and leaves of Calendula officinalis Linn. (Compositae). The extracts effectively prevented the lipid peroxidation induced by different prooxidants (10 μM FeSO4 and 5 μM sodium nitroprusside) in rat liver and brain homogenates. Moreover, the free radical scavenging activities of the extracts were evaluated by the quenching of 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (IC50 = 184.16 μg/mL) and deoxyribose (IC50 = 28.1 μg/mL) assays. The results obtained on alkaline comet assay revealed that exposure of human lymphocytes to aqueous extract of flower at a relatively high concentration (0.4 mg/mL) did not induce genotoxic effects. The major phenolic acids, some flavonoid aglycone and glycosides, were identified in flower and leaves by high performance liquid chromatography. These results indicate that C. officinalis has a significant antioxidant activity and can be effectively utilized against oxidative stress‐related diseases. Practical Applications C. officinalis is a medicinal plant which has been used in traditional medicine for skin complaints, wounds and burns, conjunctivitis, poor eyesight, menstrual irregularities, varicose veins, hemorrhoids and duodenal ulcers. As oxidative stress has been implicated as one of the inducing factors for the development of various metabolic disorders, the present study proposes to evaluate the antioxidant potential of flower and leaf extracts of plant, which may prove to be beneficial against these disorders.