Salvia cadmica: Phenolic composition and biological activity

Abstract

Salvia species have been reported to exhibit quite interesting biological activities and have great importance in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and perfumery industries. The aim of this study is to investigate the antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activity of the ethyl acetate, methanol and water extracts of Salvia cadmica Boiss. Antioxidant activity was determined by using radical scavenging, reducing power, chelating effect and phosphomolybdenum assays. In the first case, methanol extract exhibited strong activity in phosphomolybdenum, DPPH radical scavenging and CUPRAC assays, (311.96, 54.71, and 59.89μmol TEs/g dry plant, respectively) whereas the water extract showed remarkable activity in chelating effect, ABTS radical scavenging and FRAP assays (8.82μmol EDTAEs/g dry plant, 102.23, and 97.96μmol TEs/g dry plant, respectively). In the latter case, the extracts were analyzed for their inhibitory activities on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), α-amylase, α-glucosidase and tyrosinase. According to the results of this assay, the extracts showed no activity on AChE, BChE and tyrosinase. On the other hand, methanol extract showed considerable activity on α-amylase and α-glucosidase (102.28 and 869.21μmol ACEs/g dry plant, respectively). In parallel to the biological activity tests, phytochemical composition of the extracts was also studied. Methanol extract was found rich in both phenolic and flavonoid compounds (64.98μmol GAEs/g dry plant and 12.96μmol REs/g dry plant, respectively). In addition to the qualitative chromatographic analysis, quantification of twenty-three individual compounds was also determined in the extracts. Results indicate that methanol extract contained considerable amounts of apigenin, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, hesperidin, kaempferol, luteolin, p-coumaric acid, protocatechuic acid, and rosmarinic acid.