Descrição
Many herbal beverages, frequently used in folk medicine, have pharmacological properties
connected with the presence of antioxidants such as phenolic compounds. Tuberaria lignosa
(Sweet) Samp. (Fam. Cistaceae) is one of the most popular medicinal plants in several regions of
the Iberian Peninsula used to prepare herbal infusions or decoctions [1 ].1n the present work, the
antioxidant activity of wild T. lignosa infusion and decoction was evaluated by four different
methodologies (free radical scavenging activity, reducing power and lipid peroxidation inhibition)
and the phenolic composition was determined by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS.
Ellagitanins and flavonoids were the main phenolic compounds found, being punicalagin and
punicalagin gallate the most abundant compounds ( - 123 and 98 mg/g of infusion and decoction,
respectively). The infusion and decoction presented very similar results in the amounts of phenolic
compounds, but the antioxidant potential was slightly higher in the decoction preparation. Both
samples revealed high antioxidant activity (EC50 values lower than 57.3 llg/ml), even higher, in
some cases, than the standard trolox.
This work gives scientific evidences to the traditional medicinal uses of wild Tuberaria lignosa,
highlighting the interest of its decoction and infusion as sources of bioactive compounds (e.g.
phenolic compounds) that could be used as functional beverages.
; Pinela, José 
