The effect of plant extracts on the synthesis of biologically active compounds in germinated leguminous

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of aqueous extracts of field horsetail (Equisetum arvens L.) and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.) plants on the synthesis of compounds with antioxidant properties in germinating seeds. The seeds of adzuki bean (Vigna angularis), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.) were germinated for 72 hours. Germinating seeds were imbibed and daily soaked in aqueous field horsetail and stinging nettle plant extracts. We studied the influence of elicitation on the amount of dry matter, vitamin C, total polyphenols and total phenolic acids in germinated seeds. During germination, more intense synthesis of polyphenols occurred in all seeds treated with field horsetail 1% extract solutions compared with those treated with water only. The highest content of total polyphenols was found in the alfalfa seeds (91.19 mg 100 g-1) treated with the field horsetail extracts. Under the influence of extracts, the content of vitamin C significantly increased, but more affected by stinging nettle extract (alfalfa and white clover seed; 8.64 and 7.88 mg 100 g-1, respectively). When plant extracts were used, there was a tendency for biologically active substances to increase in all variants of the experiment.