Determination of biological activities and phenolic constituents of endemic dianthus species in Bolu

Caryophyllaceae family includes Dianthus genus, which has over 300 species. Traditional medicine uses a wide variety of Dianthus spp. to treat a wide range of ailments, including menostasis, gonorrhea, liver problems, cough, carbuncles, and some types of cancer. Methanolic extracts derived from two distinct parts [(FC - flower+capitulum (1) and LS - leaf+stem (2)] were investigated in order to reveal antibacterial and antioxidant properties of seven distinct endemic Dianthus spp. [(Dianthus ancyrensis (DAN), Dianthus aticii (DAT), Dianthus balansae (DBA), Dianthus carmelitarum (DCA), Dianthus kastemboluensis (DKA), Dianthus lydus (DLY), and Dianthus leucocephalus (DLE)] found in Bolu, Turkey. DPPH radical scavenging activity, total phenol-flavonoid content, antibacterial activity by disc diffusion method and individual phenolic content by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (U-HPLC) system were performed to understand the medicinal value of these endemic species. Only four (S. epidermidis, S. aureus, S. pyogenes, and K. pneumonia) of tested seventeen bacteria showed sensitivity to five different Dianthus species. While DLE exhibited modest antibacterial action against S. epidermidis, DKA, DAT, and DLY showed substantial susceptibility to S. pyogenes. The strongest ability of DBA2 to scavenge radicals was shown to be connected with its highest total phenolic content. DAT2 was the species with the maximum total flavonoid content. The main constituents of endemic Dianthus spp. were found to be rutin, phloridzin, ferulic acid, and chlorogenic acid, based on the findings of the U-HPLC analyses These findings emphasize the potential use of seven endemic Dianthus spp. as natural resources in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.