Abstract
(1) Background: The conservation of plant resources is important because many wild plant populations are threatened by various influences. Growing plants from seeds is one way to ensure their survival. Comparing the biological potential of extracts between plants cultivated from seeds and wild plants provides information about their specialized metabolites. For this reason, this study compared the biological potential of phenolic extracts from four wild-collected species of the genus Veronica and the same four cultivated species. The studied species of the genus Veronica are V. anagallis-aquatica L., V. persica Poir., V. polita Fr. and V. hederifolia L. (2) Methods: The phenolic composition was investigated with LC-QTOF (Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight). The main methods for biological activities were as follows: ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical for antioxidant activity, the disk diffusion test for antibacterial activity and the MTS test of cytotoxic activity. (3) Results: The major compound in all extracts was apigenin. Cultivated species showed higher antioxidative activity. Phenolic compounds isolated from the V. anagallis-aquatica species showed the highest cytotoxic effect on all tested lines. The extracts showed antibacterial activity on three bacterial strains: Streptococcus pyogenes, Listeria monocytogenes and L. innocua. Extracts of V. anagallis-aquatica showed the highest antibacterial activity, both from the natural habitat and cultivated habitat. (4) Conclusions: A comparison of the different activities tested for phenolic extracts between wild and cultivated species of the genus Veronica showed that cultivated species also have significant biological activity and are suitable for further research and applications.