Abstract

Polyphenolic compounds are bioactive substances widely distributed in the plant kingdom. They act as natural antioxidants and their
presence contributes to the color, flavor, and aroma of food. Therefore, they are considered dietary antioxidants with interesting benefits to
health. In this article the extraction of total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidants activity from Eryngium creticum was determined
after obtaining the plant extracts by conventional and non-conventional extraction techniques. Also this study aims to determine the
bioactive constituents present in E. creticum extracts by using GC-MS method. The results obtained show that microwave assisted
extraction is the best technique used for the extraction of phenolic compounds and flavonoids from E. creticum giving a yield of 34.46 µg
mL-1
and 21.05 µg mL-1
respectively. However, the antioxidants activity, evaluated by the DPPH assay was low in all the extraction
techniques. Also the results showed the presence of 9 fatty acid derivatives, most of them have therapeutic effects on human health. These
results explain the use of E. creticum in traditional medicine to treat various diseases.

Key words: Flavonoids; phenols; antioxidant activity; microwave-assisted extraction; bioactive compounds.