CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND CORRELATION STUDY ON PHYTOCHEMICALS OF SOME LICHEN SPECIES

Introduction: Lichens are known for their ability to grow in a very harsh environment, on the other hand, it is proved that the more environmental stressors, the more phytochemicals are produced in plants and fungi. So, it is assumed that lichens contain a large amount of phytochemicals, which can be a great source of medicinally active compounds. Lichen extracts are served as therapeutic agents in many disorders, and great efforts are made to analyze and quantify their phytochemical contents. Objective: Qualitative screening of 32 lichen extracts, quantification of phytochemicals and total antioxidant capacity in some rich content extracts, and finally correlation of quantified phytochemical classes with their antioxidant activity. Methodology: Qualitative and quantitative screening was performed using standard methods and construction of standard compounds’ calibration line. Pearson’s bivariate correlation test was carried out for determination of correlation coefficient and coefficient determination. Results: Evaluated extracts were rich in flavonoids, phenols, and carotenoids, also phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant contents were internally correlated. Conclusion: According to the significant correlation between phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant contents, it was concluded that antioxidant effect of lichen extracts is due to the high amount of phenolic and flavonoids compounds, while carotenoid compounds does not promote antioxidant activity in lichen extracts.