Andrei Felicia, Dragomirescu Anca
Spartium junceum L., a Fabaceae plant, is commonly known as “Spanish broom” and cultivated in the Mediterranean regions. It is used in various area in different part of the world. This study aims to investigate the chemical profile, antioxidant and different enzyme inhibitory activities (acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, α-glucosidase, α-amylase, and tyrosinase) of methanol, ethanol (70%) and aqueous extracts obtained from flowers and stems of S. junceum. Also, the phenolic composition of different extracts was analyzed by HPLC-DAD. Aqueous extract of stems showed the highest (63.94 mg GAE/g) phenolic content, it was followed by stem methanol extract (60.45 mg GAE/g), while aqueous extract of stems contained the highest (61.33 mg QE/g) flavonoid content, it was followed by stem methanol and ethanol extracts (39.81 mg GAE/g and 38.89 mg GAE/g, respectively). The stem methanol extract demonstrated highest DPPH radical scavenging (IC50: 1.42 mg/mL) activity, while stem water extract exhibited strong ABTS radical scavenging activity (IC50: 0.24 mg/mL). The tested extracts differ greatly in terms of enzyme inhibition activity. The flower ethanol extract showed highest Anti-acetylcholinesterase activity (IC50: 0.72 mg/mL), however stem methanol extract exhibited strong anti-butyrylcholinesterase activity (IC50: 0.08 mg/mL). The flower methanol extract was most active against α-glucosidase (IC50: 0.44 mg/mL) enzyme. All extracts showed the least activity against α-amylase and tyrosinase enzymes. When the biological activity results are evaluated, it provides the evidence for the bioactivity-guided isolation studies on the active extracts of this plant