ANTI-UREASE, TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF SOME Inula L. (ASTERACEAE) TAXA IN TURKEY

The genus Inula belongs to family Asteraceae and it is medicinally important because it possesses cytotoxic, anticancer, hepatoprotective, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of this research was to explore antioxidant and anti-urease activities of fifteen Inula taxa in Turkey. Ethanol extracts of Inula taxa were obtained by Soxhlet extraction. Antioxidant activity was determined through total antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and copper reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) analyses. The highest total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity were found in I. orientalis (158.54 +/- 0.002 mu g GAE/mL) and I. macrocephala (189.16 +/- 0.002 mu g AAE/mL). CUPRAC activity increases with the increasing concentration of the extracts and the standard. Moreover, all the tested plants exhibited better anti-urease activity than standard thiourea except for I. anatolica and I. thapsoides subsp. thapsoides. Results obtained from this study demonstrate that Inula species might be utilized as a probable natural source in the pharmaceutical and food industries but further and more specific studies are needed to determine active antioxidative and anti-urease compounds in the extracts.