PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA L., PHOENIX CANARIENSIS L. AND CHAMAEROPS HUMILIS L.

In arid regions, the date palm is the most important plant at the ecological, economic and social levels. In Algeria, many date palm cultivars exist in all traditional palm groves, especially those located in the south-west of Algeria. Each oasis has a composition of its own. The identification of these cultivars is based on fruits’ and seeds’ morphological description. However, those criterions are problematic.
We propose to characterize phytoconstituents of leaflets from 20 cultivars of date palm in looking for biochemical markers in order to contribute to the cultivars of Phoenix dactylifera L.’s inventory. First, we established a phytochemical screening to determine the composition of the cultivars’ secondary metabolites. Then, we prepared and analyzed by thin layer chromatography the different extracts to identify substances of secondary metabolism. We revealed and measured phenolic acids, flavonoids and tanins. After the hydrolysis, we identified the aglycones as quercetin and isorhamnetin. The osidic part was identified as galactose. Nevertheless, these metabolites do not allow identifying univocally the tested cultivars. They allow differentiating the two genus we studied Phoenix (dactylifera and canariensis) and Chamaerops. Indeed, a strong antioxidant activity was detected in the aqueous extract of date palm cultivars but not in Chamaerops humilis L. Some cultivars of the date palm (‘Ghars’ and ‘Adoukli’) are as active as the authentic witnesses used such as BHA, ascorbic acid and quercetin.