Abstract
Echium vulgare which is known as viper's bugloss is a species of flowering plant in the borage family of Boraginaceae. In this study, Echium vulgare was examined considering its phenolic and flavonoid contents, and the antioxidant activity of methanolic extract was investigated by the method called 2, 2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl radical scavenging (DPPH) activity. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was utilized to estimate the phenolic acids and flavonoid compounds. The data reported that the Echium vulgare methanol extract is a good source of total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids content and the antioxidant activity. The phenolic acids from Echium vulgare extract were estimated using HPLC, and the highest compounds were gallic acid, benzoic acid and isoferulic acid. Flavonoid compounds were the highest compounds in quercetrin and naringin. The results of the biological experiments illustrated that the concentrations 250 and 500mg/kg body weight from Echium vulgare had contained the polyphenols in the extract to maintain an ideal body weight, improve the complete blood picture, lipid profile and liver functions as Alanine (ALT) and Aspartate (AST) transaminoferase. From the results of histopathology, it could be observed that in all the groups fed orally on Echium vulgare extract at 250 and 500 mg/kg no histopathological changes were observed in heart and liver except for the positive control. In conclusion, the results obviously illustrated that the Echium vulgare extract had contained high amounts of phenolic contents and flavonoid compounds which improve the blood parameters, lipid profile and liver functions and also histopathological changes in heart and liver.