2024/07/15 by Antía G. Pereira, Maria Fraga‐Corral, Aurora Silva +8 · 1 voice
Medicine · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Tea Polyphenols and Effects #Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities #Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity
paper · pdf · doi:10.3390/ph17070946
openalex publication_date 2024/07/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
In recent years, the search for novel natural-based ingredients by food and related industries has sparked extensive research aimed at discovering new sources of functional molecules. Camellia japonica, traditionally known as an ornamental plant, has gained attention due to its diverse array of bioactive compounds with potential industrial applications. Although C. japonica flowers are edible, their phytochemical profile has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, a phenolic profile screening through an HPLC–ESI-QQQ-MS/MS approach was applied to C. japonica flower extracts, revealing a total of 36 compounds, including anthocyanins, curcuminoids, dihydrochalcones, dihydroflavonols, flavonols, flavones, hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, isoflavonoids, stilbenes, and tyrosols. Following extract profiling, their bioactivity was assessed by means of in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and neuroprotective activities. The results showed a multifaceted high correlation of phenolic compounds with all the tested bioactivities according to Pearson’s correlation analysis, unraveling the potential of C. japonica flowers as promising sources of nutraceuticals. Overall, these findings provide insight into the valorization of C. japonica flowers from different unexplored cultivars thus diversifying their industrial outcome.