In vitro and in silico cholinesterase inhibitory and antioxidant effects of essential oils and extracts of two new Salvia fruticosa mill. cultivars (Turgut and Uysal) and GC-MS analysis of the essential oils

The EtOH extracts of the leaves of two new cultivars (Uysal-SFU and Turgut-SFT) of Salvia fruticosa Mill. was tested against acetylcholinesterase (IC50: 30.62 +/- 3.27 and 32.97 +/- 2.33 mu g/mL for SFU and SFT, respectively) and butyrylcholinesterase (IC50: 69.91 +/- 1.08 mu g/mL and 86.55 +/- 1.26 mu g/mL), respectively, relevant to Alzheimer's disease. The essential oils showed a stumpy inhibition against AChE and no inhibition against BChE. DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extracts (86.70 +/- 0.17% and 86.14 +/- 1.13% for SFU and SFT, respectively) was stronger than that of quercetin (85.51 +/- 0.17%): Their (1.24 +/- 0.05 and 1.04 +/- 0.16 for SFU and SFT, respectively) ferric-reducing antioxidant power were close to that of the reference (e.g. quercetin, 1.42 +/- 0.14). Molecular docking simulations were performed on their major monoterpenes. Our findings revealed that the leaf EtOH extracts of two cultivars are promising inhibitors of both AChE and BChE.

Automated summary

The ethanol extracts of Salvia fruticosa Mill.'s leaves from two new cultivars, Uysal-SFU and Turgut-SFT, were found to be promising inhibitors of both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) relevant to Alzheimer's disease. The extracts showed IC50 values of 30.62 +/- 3.27 and 32.97 +/- 2.33 μg/mL against AChE for SFU and SFT, respectively, and IC50 values of 69.91 +/- 1.08 and 86.55 +/- 1.26 μg/mL against BChE. The essential oils in the extracts exhibited weak inhibition against AChE and no inhibition against BChE. Additionally, the extracts showed strong DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric-reducing antioxidant power.