Chemical characterization and bio-pharmaceutical abilities of five different solvent extracts from aerial parts and roots of Scorzonera hispanica L.

The genus Scorzonera contains important plants as traditional drugs and foods. In this sense, the aim of the present study was to determine the chemical composition, antioxidant activity and enzyme inhibitory effects of the root and aerial part of Scorzonera hispanica L. (S. hispanica) extracts. The antioxidant activities were evaluated using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS), metal chelating and phosphomolybdenum assays and the enzyme inhibitory properties were assessed against acetyl- (AChE) and butyryl-cholinesterase (BChE), tyrosinase, α-amylase and α-glucosidase. The results showed that the methanolic and ethyl acetate extracts possessed the highest phenol and flavonoid contents. The methanolic aerial part extract represented the highest antioxidant properties (FRAP: 58.41±1.55; CUPRAC: 126.18±0.94; DPPH: 47.92±0.07; ABTS: 71.69±0.03 mg Trolox equivalent (TE)/g) compared to the root extracts. The root extract significantly depressed AChE (2.64±0.02 mg galantamine equivalent (GALAE)/g), BChE (5.36±0.45 mg galantamine equivalent (GALAE)/g), tyrosinase (60.36±0.23 mg kojic acid equivalent (KAE)/g), α-amylase (0.61±0.01 mmol acarbose equivalent (ACAE)/g) and α-glucosidase (0.82±0.01 mmol acarbose equivalent (ACAE)/g) enzymes. Liquid chromatography hyphenated with photodiode-array detection and tandem electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-MSn) analysis revealed phytochemical fingerprint of the two part of the plant and the most abundant constituents were rutin and orientin for aerial parts, 3,5 and 4,5-dicaffeoyl quinic acids for roots respectively. This is the first report gathering scientific data on antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory activities and phytochemical composition of S. hispanica. Thus, this research can be used as one methodological starting point for further investigation on this plant.