from Tunisia: Phytochemical and Physicochemical Properties and Biological Activities.

Natural plant extracts contain a variety of phenolic compounds which are assigned various biological activities. Our work aims to make a quantitative and qualitative characterization of the Zest (ZL) and the Flesh (FL) of lemon , to valorize the pharmacological uses of lemon, by evaluating activities (DPPH, free radical scavenging and reducing power). The antibacterial, antifungal, and antiproliferative activities were sought in the ability of extracts to protect DNA and protein. We found that the ZL contains high amounts of phenolics responsible for the important antioxidant properties of the extract. However, the FL is richer in flavonoids than the ZL. The FL extract was also found to be more effective than the ZL in protecting plasmid DNA against the strand breakage induced by hydroxyl radicals. We also concluded that the FL extract exhibited potent antibacterial activity unlike ZL. Analysis by LC/MS-MS identified 6 compounds (Caffeoyl N-Tryptophan, Hydroxycinnamoyl-Oglucoside acid, Vicenin 2, Eriocitrin, Kaempferol-3-O- rutinoside, and Quercetin-3-rutinoside). These preliminary results showed that has antibacterial and antioxidant activity . It would be interesting to conduct further studies to evaluate the potential in an animal model.