Phenolic Compounds from Halimodendron halodendron (Pall.) Voss and Their Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities

Halimodendron halodendron has been used as forage in northwestern China for a long time. Its young leaves and flowers are edible and favored by indigenous people. In this study, eleven phenolic compounds were bioassay-guided and isolated from the aerial parts of H. halodendron for the first time. They were identified by means of physicochemical and spectrometric analysis as quercetin (1), 3,5,7,8,4′-pentahydroxy-3′-methoxy flavone (2), 3-O-methylquercetin (3), 3,3′-di-O-methylquercetin (4), 3,3′-di-O-methylquercetin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (5), isorhamentin-3-O-β-d-rutinoside (6), 8-O-methylretusin (7), 8-O-methylretusin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (8), salicylic acid (9), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (ferulic acid) (10), and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy cinnamic acid (11). They were sorted as flavonols (1–6), soflavones (7 and 8), and phenolic acids (9–11). Among the compounds, flanools 1–4 revealed a strong antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 50–150 μg/mL, and median inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values of 26.8–125.1 μg/mL. The two isoflavones (7 and 8) showed moderate inhibitory activity on the test bacteria. Three phenolic acids (9, 10 and 11) showed strong antibacterial activity with IC(50) values of 28.1–149.7 μg/mL. Antifungal activities of the compounds were similar to their antibacterial activities. All these phenolic compounds showed significant antimicrobial activity with a broad spectrum as well as antioxidant activity based on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and β-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching assays. In general, the flavonol aglycones with relatively low polarity exhibited stronger activities than the glycosides. The results suggest the potential of this plant as a source of functional food ingredients and provide support data for its utilization as forage as well.