Investigation of phytochemical content of extracts of endemic Klasea bornmuelleri (AZN.), determination of insecticidal and enzyme activities

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the phytochemical constituents of Klasea bornmuelleri extracts and to evaluate their insecticidal and enzyme inhibitory activities. The chemical composition of flower and stem-leaf extracts was analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). This analysis revealed the presence of significant amounts of fatty acid esters, hydrocarbons and other secondary metabolites in both extracts. Furthermore, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis identified phenolic acids, especially quinic acid and chlorogenic acid, as the dominant components of both extracts. The concentrations of these compounds were 3786.19 µg/g and 3815.43 µg/g for stem-leaf extracts and 2081.38 µg/g and 4536.21 µg/g for flower extracts, respectively. Enzyme inhibitory tests revealed that methanol:chloroform extracts showed significant activity on tyrosinase, xanthine oxidase and acetylcholinesterase. The insecticidal potential of Klasea bornmuelleri was evaluated on Sitophilus granarius for periods of 24, 48 and 72 hours. No insecticidal activity was observed in all period of time. The trial done on T. castaneum determinated that the hexane extracts from both flowers and stem-leaves showed no significant insecticidal activity. However, methanol:chloroform extracts from stem-leaves exhibited a constant mortality rate of 21.15 ± 4.69% at all three time points (24, 48 and 72 hours). The methanol:chloroform extracts from the floral part showed a slightly higher efficacy with mortality rates of 26.07 ± 7.40% at 24 hours, 28.29 ± 8.53% at 48 hours and 28.29 ± 8.53% at 72 hours. These findings suggest that methanol:chloroform extracts of K. bornmuelleri, especially those obtained from flower and stem-leaf parts, possess significant insecticidal and enzyme inhibitory properties, which could be further investigated for pest control and therapeutic treatments.