Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Pharmacy - Department of Pharmacognosy

Chickpeas (Cicer arietinum Linn.) are a basic food in many countries with many varieties distributed all overthe world. However, little is known about their secondary metabolites and their biological potentials. Thus, this study is focused on the phenolic profiling of seven Egyptian varieties of chickpea. Selecting the most appropriate extraction method and analytical conditions, a total of 140 compounds were characterized based on their retention time, UV spectra, accurate mass spectrometry (MS) and MS/MS data using reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection, with a core-shell column, and coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight-MS. Among them, the major phenolic compounds subclasses were hydroxybenzoic acids and flavonoids. Moreover, other minor and major metabolites including organic acids, amino acids, nucleosides, peptides and soyasaponins were characterized. Remarkably, 88 of these compounds were reported for the first time in chickpeas including 9 newly proposed structures. The total phenol content of the varieties was determined. The seven varieties showed good antioxidant activity by trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity technique. Variety Giza 1 expressed strong in vivohepatoprotective and in vivoantioxidant and antimicrobial activities while it exerted weak in vitro cytotoxic activity

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