Investigation of phytochemical properties and biological activities of some campanula species distributed in Turkey

About 120 of the species belonging to the genus Campanula (Campanulaceae), which has about 420 species in the world, are found in Turkey's flora with a high endemism ratio of 50%. In this study, total phenolics, total flavonoids, total anthocyanins, total chlorophyll, total carotenoids and Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) contents of C. cymbalaria, C. davisii (endemic), C. peregrina ve C. stricta var. libanotica, which have not been investigated so far in terms of their phytochemical properties and biological activities, were determined quantitatively. The contents of methanol extracts and ethyl acetate fractions were evaluated in terms of chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, rutin, quercetin, kaempferol, luteolin and apigenin by using HPLC-DAD technique. The components of petroleum ether fractions were determined by using GC-MS technique. Antioxidant, antiinflammatory, anticholinergic and antimicrobial activity of the species were also evaluated. C. peregrina was found to have the highest amount of total phenolics, total flavonoids and total anthocyanins. The content of petroleum ether fractions was seen to comprise fatty acids and triterpenoids substantially. All of the investigated species showed antioxidant and antiinflammatory activity. Petroleum ether and chloroform fractions were found to be more effective against COX-1 than indomethacin. The activity of these fractions against COX-2 were lower than indomethacin. Strong anticholinergic activity were detected in all studied species. The highest antiinflammatory and anticholinergic activity was observed in C. peregrina as well as antioxidant activity. The investigated species showed low antibacterial and antifungal activity against the strains used in this study.