Determination of biological activities of extracts obtained from Arum rupicola var. rupicola (Araceae)

Nowadays, the discovery of new therapeutic agents against global health problems such as cancer and antimicrobial resistance is of great importance. Medicinal plants constitute a valuable resource in this discovery process with their rich bioactive compound contents. In this thesis study, bioactivity studies were conducted with extracts obtained from different parts of Arum rupicola var. rupicola (Araceae), which grows naturally in our country. Furthermore, phytochemical profiling was performed using analytical techniques, and experimental data were also interpreted computationally via molecular docking, which is an in silico method. Within the scope of bioactivity studies, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxicity studies were conducted. With the compounds detected via phytochemical profiling, binding affinities against target proteins involved in cancer pathways and associated with important cellular mechanisms in microorganism life were investigated using the molecular docking method. The results showed that there were differences in the phytochemical profiles of different parts of the plant, and consequently, the extracts possessed variable bioactivities. In line with the obtained data, the demonstration of various bioactivities of Arum extracts will contribute to biological/pharmacological activity studies to be conducted hereafter. With this study, the importance of the potentials of herbal preparations and/or extracts has been demonstrated once again.