Phytochemical Analysis and Safety Assessment of Watercress Nasturtium officinale: Antioxidant Capacity, Heavy Metal Profiling, and Toxicity Using Brine Shrimp Model
TL;DR
Watercress is a good source of bioactive components possessing potent antioxidant activity and it may be possible to develop functional feed additives in aquaculture and nutraceuticals, suggesting that it may be possible to develop functional feed additives in aquaculture and nutraceuticals.
Abstract
Medicinal plants have attracted growing attention as sources of natural bioactive compounds for sustainable aquaculture and health. This study evaluated the phytochemical composition, antioxidant activity, heavy metal profile, and acute toxicity of watercress (Nasturtium officinale W.T. Aiton) methanol extract using maceration, qualitative and quantitative (TPC, TFC, antioxidant DPPH) phytochemical assay, XRF, and BSLA. Phytochemical screening of plant extracts showed the existence of flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, tannins, triterpenoids, and saponins, but not steroidal. The TPC and TFC were 20.6 mg GAE/g and 10.8 mg QE/g, respectively. The extract displayed significant antioxidant activity (IC50 = 64.78 µg/mL in DPPH assay). In addition, the XRF results indicate that the analyzed extract does not contain harmful heavy elements (either Hg, Cd, Pb, and/or Sn and As), but Zn and Cu exceed WHO/FAO limits. The Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA) was adopted for toxicological assessment, where the LC50 of 475.96 µg/mL indicated that the extract is toxic. However, several previous studies have shown that watercress can be used as a salad, a food supplement, and is safe for humans and animals. These data confirmed that N. officinale is a good source of bioactive components possessing potent antioxidant activity. This finding suggests that it may be possible to develop functional feed additives in aquaculture and nutraceuticals.