Phytochemical screening, antioxidant, anticoagulant and in vitro toxic and genotoxic properties of aerial parts extracts of Fumaria officinalis L. growing in Tunisia

Fumaria is an important plant species with many applications in herbal medicine. In this paper we report on the investigation of the phytochemical composition, antioxidant, anticoagulant and in vitro genotoxic properties of Fumaria officinalis L. which is amongst others widely used in Tunisia. Petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanol extracts were made and investigated with respect to their total phenolics and flavonoids contents using standard methods. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH and ABTS methods. The anticoagulant activity was evaluated by prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) tests. In vitro toxic and genotoxic properties with respectively the Neutral red uptake method and the bacterial Vitotox test and comet assay in human C3A cells. This study showed that methanolic extract had the highest total phenolic and flavonoids contents. The same extract showed surprising anticoagulant and antioxidant activities. The Vitotox test revealed absence of genotoxicity for all extracts in the bacterial Vitotox test. This was confirmed in the comet assay which was conducted on human C3A cells, except for the methanolic extract where DNA damage appeared to be significantly increased at nontoxic concentrations. Thus, showing the potential of the plant as a new source of bioactive molecules for therapeutic purposes, with particular emphasis on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.