Investigation of Some Biological Activities and Alkaloid Composition of Chelidonium majus L. in the Conditions of Kungei-Alatau

Introduction: Chelidonium majus L. (family Papaveraceae), also known as greater celandine, is an important plant used in traditional medicine. The extracts of C. majus and the purified compounds derived from them exhibit a wide range of biological activities, supporting several traditional uses of C. majus.Objective: It was aimed to determine and compare the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities as well as the determination and characterization of alkaloids of roots and aerial parts of C. majus collected from various locations (N1, N2, N3) of Kungei-Alatau.Methods: The antioxidant capability was determined by free radical (DPPH and ABTS) scavenging and metal chelation (PFRAP) assays. The content of total phenolic compounds was ascertained by Folin-Ciocalteu’s phenol reagent method. The antimicrobial activity was determined by agar-disc diffusion method. And the total alkaloids from C. majus were characterized by GC-MS.Results: The roots of C. majus showed higher antioxidant and antimicrobial potential than the aerial parts. The highest content of total phenolic compounds was found in roots of N2 (2617,625,53 g GAE/mL). N3 root extract exhibited the highest DPPH scavenging activity (1745,371,9 mol TE/mL) while N1 root extract had a 917,9710,43 mol TE/mL ABTS scavenging activity and a PFRAP value of 18,930,14 mmol AAE/mL. The inhibition zones against the test microorganisms were in a positive correlation with the extract concentration. The largest zone diameter was found as 33,00,82 mm against Bacillus subtilis by N1 root extract with a 200 mg/mL concentration. The methanol extracts from both roots and aerial parts of N1, N2 and N3 were ineffective at all concentrations against C. michiganensis. A total of 26 alkaloids including chelidonine, dihydrochelerythrine, dihydrochelirubine, demethylchelerythrine, and dihydrosanguinarine were determined and characterized by GC-MS. Protopine, dihydrosanguinarine and dihydrochelerythrine were found as the predominant alkaloids extracted from C. majus.Conclusion: By comparing the phytochemical composition of celandine samples from both the aerial parts and roots, it is deduced that the production and storage of distinct chemicals in each plant are affected by a variety of parameters, including age, living conditions, and the external environment. The information obtained from the findings of this study indicates that the root is more beneficial component of the plant when compared to other plant parts. This study also suggests that the growth conditions may alter the phytochemical composition of the plant resulting in the differences in the investigated parameters.