Insight into anticholinesterase and antioxidant potential of thirty-four Rosaceae samples and phenolic characterization of the active extracts by HPLC

The ethanol (EtOH) extracts of thirty-four taxa from the Amelanchier, Cotoneaster, Pyrus, and Sorbus genera (Rosaceae) have been screened for their inhibitory potential against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) at 200 mu g/mL as well as their antioxidant activity using metal-chelating capacity, ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DMPD) radical scavenging activity at 2000 mu g/mL using ELISA microtiter assays. Our results indicated that two extracts of Sorbus umbelleta from different localities had 56.20 +/- 5.05% (IC50 = 182.1 mu g/mL) and 58.18 +/- 3.77% (IC50 = 177.8 mu g/mL) of inhibition against AChE, while 50.67 +/- 0.32% of BChE inhibition (IC50 = 206.5 mu g/mL) was caused by the extract of Cotoneaster meyeri. Among the tested extracts, S. subfusca displayed the highest FRAP value (1.618 +/- 0.09) and DMPD radical scavenging activity (31.05 +/- 0.01%), while the best metal-chelating capacity (27.13 +/- 2.01%) was found to belong to the extract of Sorbus kusnetzovii. The EtOH extracts of the active species (e.g. Cotoneaster meyeri, two samples of Sorbus umbelleta, and Sorbus subfusca) in enzyme inhibition assays have also been subjected to HPLC analysis to quantify some selected phenolic acids and flavonoid derivatives. Chlorogenic acid (28.83 +/- 0.67-149.10 +/- 0.46 mg/100 g) and rutin (46.08 +/- 0.63-109.08 +/- 0.07 mg/100 g) were quantified in all four extracts. Caffeic acid (0.79 +/- 0.18 mg/100g) was only present in C. meyeri, whereas ferulic acid and apigenin were detected in three extracts in minor amounts. Our findings also pointed out to a marked variation in bioactivity and phytochemistry among the same plant species growing in different places. This is the first anticholinesterase and antioxidant study on most the Rosaceae species studied herein. Among them, Sorbus umbellata appears to be a promising herb due to its noticeable anti-AChE and antioxidant activities. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.