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Vol. 38 No. 10 (2026): Vol 38, Issue 10, 2026

Copyright (c) 2026 Mounia Elmotaouakkel, Mohamed Hatim Labiad, Fabio Amoruso, Ouafae Benkhnigue, Badr Aouan, Hamid Saufi, Hicham Harhar, Abdelkebir Bellaouchou, Mohammed Tabyaoui, Ahmed Ghanimi

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Comparative Mineral Content, Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Levels and Chlorophyll, Carotenoid and DPPH Assays of Three Wild Moroccan Medicinal Plants from the Settat Region

https://doi.org/10.14233/ajchem.2026.36447
M. Elmotaouakkel
Laboratory of Materials, Nanotechnologies and Environment (LMNE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3303-4094
M.H. Labiad
Department of Chemistry, School of Higher Education and Training, Mohammed 1 University, Oujda, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1311-8628
F. Amoruso
Department of Agronomical Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, 30203 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4754-422X
O. Benkhnigue
Department of Botany and Plant Ecology, Scientific Institute, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4411-7318
B. Aouan
Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of Inorganic and Organic Materials, LPCMIO, Materials Science Research Center, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9400-6929
H. Saufi
Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of Inorganic and Organic Materials, LPCMIO, Materials Science Research Center, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1606-9788
H. Harhar
Laboratory of Materials, Nanotechnologies and Environment (LMNE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8266-0130
A. Bellaouchou
Laboratory of Materials, Nanotechnologies and Environment (LMNE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9006-1729
M. Tabyaoui
Laboratory of Materials, Nanotechnologies and Environment (LMNE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6556-5238
A. Ghanimi
Laboratory of Materials, Nanotechnologies and Environment (LMNE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8865-7773

Corresponding Author(s) : B. Aouan

badr.aouan@um5.ac.ma

Asian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 38 No. 10 (2026): Vol 38, Issue 10, 2026

Abstract

Marrubium vulgare L., Calendula arvensis (Vaill.) L. and Ajuga iva L. are Moroccan medicinal plants with diverse phytochemical profiles and established traditional uses. This study aimed to comparatively characterize the mineral composition, photosynthetic pigments, total phenolic, flavonoid contents, and antioxidant activity of these wild species collected from the Settat region of Morocco. Mineral ions were quantified by ion chromatography, while phenolic compounds, flavonoids, chlorophylls and carotenoids were determined using spectrophotometric methods. Antioxidant activity was assessed using the DPPH radical-scavenging assay. The species exhibited distinct mineral and phytochemical profiles. C. arvensis (Vaill.) L. had the highest chloride (155.57 ± 4.65 ppm), sulphate (53.02 ± 0.91 ppm), and carotenoid (0.0834 ± 0.0521 mg kg–1 DW) contents, whereas A. iva L. showed the highest phosphate (58.33 ± 0.13 ppm), nitrite (49.15 ± 0.01 ppm), chlorophyll a (0.150 ± 0.0591 mg kg–1 DW) and DPPH activity (135.87 ± 5.81 mg AAE kg–1 FW). M. vulgare L. contained the highest total phenolic (992.02 ± 38.94 mg GAE kg–1 FW) and flavonoid (2034.47 ± 81.00 mg QE kg–1 FW) contents. These findings provide a descriptive comparative framework of the biochemical composition of these species, which may inform future studies into their pharmacological potential.

Keywords

Medicinal plants Phytochemical profile Mineral composition Antioxidant activity Bioactive compounds
(1)
Elmotaouakkel, M.; Labiad, M.; Amoruso, F.; Benkhnigue, O.; Aouan, B.; Saufi, H.; Harhar, H.; Bellaouchou, A.; Tabyaoui, M.; Ghanimi, A. Comparative Mineral Content, Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Levels and Chlorophyll, Carotenoid and DPPH Assays of Three Wild Moroccan Medicinal Plants from the Settat Region. ajc 2026, 38, 2553-2558.
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