Evaluating the Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Leaves of Different Rose Varieties

Abstract

Rose is a commercially significant floricultural crop that has been used for various industrial as well as decoration purposes. Along with the beautification of rose flowers, their leaves are enriched with different biologically active compounds having various therapeutic uses. The current study was performed on the phytochemical and antioxidant activity of aqueous extracts of rose leaves. In our study, we found there are consequential variations observed in all the parameters, viz., total chlorophyll, carotenoids, total anthocyanin, total phenol, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity, among all the varieties. Among the ten varieties, Thelma Barlow revealed the maximum phenolic content (35.19 mg/g FW), flavonoids content (15.97 mg/g FW), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity of IC50 value (206.86 ± 0.49 µg/mL), and 2,2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) (301.62 ± 2.31 µg/mL). The variety Grand Amore presented the highest values for total chlorophyll (1.41 mg/g FW) and carotenoids (36.29 mg/g FW) content compared to other varieties. Also, a comparative correlation was studied amongst the phytochemicals such as anthocyanin content, total phenolic content, flavonoids, and antioxidant activities. Amongst the different rose varieties, Grand Amore and Thelma Barlow contain higher antioxidant potential, owing to their greater phytochemical activity. From our findings, we collectively concluded that fresh rose leaves contain potentially higher phenolic and flavonoid content, i.e., are responsible for higher antioxidant activity, which can be utilized for various pharmacological as well as food industries.