Determination of Phenolic Content, Biological Activity, and Enzyme Inhibitory Properties with Molecular Docking Studies of <i>Rumex nepalensis</i>, an Endemic Medicinal Plant

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the phenolic content, antioxidant potential, and enzyme inhibitiory properties of Rumex nepalensis by in vitro spectrophotometric methods. The experiments demonstrated that glutathione S-transferase (GST), α-glycosidase (α-Gly), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) enzymes were strongly inhibited by R. nepalensis extracts. The IC50 values for GST, α-Gly, AChE, and BChE enzyme inhibitions were calculated as 21.01 mg/mL, 34.65 mg/mL, 27.72 mg/mL, and 17.32 mg/mL, respectively. Also, effective antioxidant capacities of water and methanol extracts of R. nepalensis were determined by ABTS, CUPRAC, DPPH, and FRAP methods. Furthermore, quinic acid (15.61 mg/g), miquelianin (2.06 mg/g), quercitrin (1.97 mg/g), and protocatechuic acid (0.217 mg/g) were identified to be the major phenolic compounds of the plant extract according to the LC-MS/MS analysis. Finally, molecular docking studies were carried out to show the interactions of quinic acid, miquelianin, and quercitrin with AChE, BChE, GST, and α-Gly enzymes. Docking analysis indicated the possible roles of these phytochemicals in enzyme inhibitory activities.