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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2026)

Comparative analysis of phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidants potential of different solvent extracts from Stellera chamaejasme L. leaves

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.12577
Submitted
3 November 2025
Published
04-05-2026 — Updated on 13-05-2026
Versions

Abstract

Stellera chamaejasme L. is a bioactive rich Himalayan medicinal plant traditionally used in Chinese and Mongolian medicine and valued for its phytochemical potential. In this study, leaf extracts were prepared using solvents of varying polarity and calculated total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging potential. The TPC and TFC varied significantly across extracts, with the highest TPC observed in ethyl acetate (187.29 mg GAE/g) and the highest TFC in acetone (52.36 mg QE/g). The ethyl acetate extract exhibited the strongest radical scavenging activity, IC50 values (DPPH: 67.58 ± 1.36 µg/mL; ABTS: 15.35 ± 1.15 µg/mL). Pearson correlation analysis reflected a strong negative relationship between phenolics content and IC50 value, suggesting that phenolics are major contributors. Principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to observe the relationship between TPC, TFC and IC50 with different solvent types. The principal component (PC) 1 and PC2 explained 63.1 % and 27.4 % variables, respectively and PERMANOVA resulted that 99.2 % of the variation (p<0.001) in the data were explained by the solvents. Moreover, a positive correlation was observed between solvent polarity and TPC, whereas IC50 values decreased with increasing polarity. This first Nepal-specific solvent-wise comparative analysis highlights the critical role of solvent polarity in optimising bioactive extraction and antioxidant efficiency in S. chamaejasme leaves and suggests its prospective natural product-based formulation including biopesticide development, warranting further targeted investigation.

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