Metabolomics profiling, biological activities, and molecular docking studies of elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum L.)

Abstract

Allium ampeloprasum L., elephant garlic, is a plant that is cultivated and notable for its usage for medical and nutritional purposes. From this point, the present work presents the phenolic profiles of methanol extracts from the flowers, leaves, and bulbs of A. ampeloprasum collected in the wild in Izmir, Turkey, using a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry technique. Among the 30 quantified phenolic compounds, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid was the major component in A. ampeloprasum from Cambel (AA2) with a value of 3505 ± 12.8 µg/g extract, while the bioactive flavonols, quercetin (98.37 ± 1.75 µg/g extract), and kaempferol (173.20 ± 1.3 µg/g extract) were notable molecules in samples of A. ampeloprasum from Armutlu (AA1). Additionally, antioxidant activity by ferric-reducing antioxidant power and cupric ion-reducing assays, and the total phenolic, and flavonoid content were determined for all extracts. Finally, the samples’ capacity to inhibit the enzymes acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and tyrosinase was evaluated using a 96-well microplate reader, the flowers of both samples generally had stronger inhibitory activity. Furthermore, the relationship between enzyme inhibition potency and the main phenolic components was expounded by molecular modeling studies. Consequently, these experiments were achieved to investigate the prospective usage of A. ampeloprasum both in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields.