Antioxidant and anticholinesterase activities of Ferulago syriaca Boiss. and F. isaurica Peșmen growing in Turkey

Abstract

Ferulago species have been utilized since ancient times as anthelmintic, digestive, sedative, and aphrodisiac, along with salads or as seasoning in view of their special odors. The study reports the antioxidant and anticholinesterase activities of extracts, fractions from roots, and aerial parts together with isolated compounds from chloroform fractions of roots [isoimperatorin (1), bergapten (2), prantschimgin (3), xanthotoxin (4), and felamidin (5)] from Ferulago syriaca Boiss. and F. isaurica Peșmen. The phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of extracts, fractions, and isolated compounds were performed with Folin–Ciocalteu’s phenol indicator, qualitative and quantitative Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and TBA methods. In addition, anticholinesterase activity was carried out via Ellman’s method. The highest total phenolic content was found in the EtOAc fraction from the root of F. syriaca (1156.01 ± 4.92 mg/g), on the other hand, the lowest total phenolic content was shown in the hexane fraction from the root of F. isaurica (12.45 ± 4.45 mg/g). All samples showed antioxidant activity with DPPH test and the highest activities were observed in CHCl3 fractions of roots from F. syriaca and F. isaurica (9.99 and 8.78 μg/mL, respectively). The CHCl3 fraction of root from F. isaurica was found to have strong inhibition against AChE (46.99%) and BuChE (88.56 ± 2.34%) at 20 µg/mL. Prantschimgin (74.82%) and felamidin (77.11%) demonstrated strong inhibition toward BuChE. CHCl3 fractions of roots from these species had notable antioxidant and anticholinesterase activities. It displayed inhibitory activities on AChE and BuChE, and moreover considerable antioxidant activity.