Based on seasonal availability, plants could include: Wild Geranium, Large Beard-tongue, Foxglove Beardtongue, Fall Phlox, Sweet William, Creeping Phlox, Turk's Cap Lily, Swamp Milkweed (to host Monarch butterflies), New England aster, Switchgrass, Big Bluestem grass, Black-eyed Susan, Jewelweed, Woolly Ragwort, Blue
Waxweed, Purple Tridens grass, spearmint, peppermint, oregano, and sage.
Cuphea carthagenensis, the waxweed, popularly known in Brazil as 'sete-sangrias', is widely distributed throughout Brazil and several South American countries and extensively used in traditional medicine to treat diarrhea, arterial hypertension, rheumatism, fever, hypercholesterolemia and palpitations (ALMEIDA, 1993; BIAVATTI et al., 2004).
Since few scientific works on variables involved in extraction stages and on antioxidant potential of the two extracts have been published, current research determines the parameters that promote a higher extraction of polyphenolic compounds from hibiscus and waxweed or 'sete-sangrias' within the extraction stages (temperature, stirring, solvent ratio, time and pH) and evaluates their antioxidant potential.
Samples of hibiscus (HI) and waxweed or 'sete-sangrias' (SS), purchased commercially in Passo Fundo RS Brazil, were dried in an air-circulation oven at 30 [+ or -] 0.5[degrees]C for 24h and ground in a cyclone mill (Marconi, MA-020).
Table 3 and Figure 2 give a summary of the experimental results from the extraction process of polyphenolic fraction from hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) and waxweed or 'sete-sangrias' (Cuphea carthagenensis).
In the case of waxweed or 'sete-sangrias', polyphenol contents extracted by ethanol or acetone were similar to those obtained in hibiscus.
Figure 3 shows the results for the antioxidant activity of hibiscus and waxweed extracts obtained by DPPH method.
Regarding to the [ABTS.sup.*+] method, both extracts showed a similar antioxidant activity, with 69.04 [micro]M Trolox [g.sup.-1] and 67.23 [micro]M Trolox [g.sup.-1], respectively for waxweed and hibiscus.
In fact, most investigations revealed that waxweed or 'sete-sangrias' and hibiscus had a higher antioxidant activity than that in other genera, by both DPPH and [ABTS.sup.*+].
Current research investigated the extraction process of total polyphenols in hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) and waxweed or 'sete-sangrias' (Cuphea carthagenensis) and evaluated their extracts' antioxidant potential.