Components of lactuca boissieri, cicerbita petiolata, lactuca bourgaei species and biological activity studies

Natural products play an important role in pharmacology and medicine. Lactuca is an important genus of the Asteraceae family. This genus, which is particularly widespread in temperate and warm regions, is commonly found in Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, and Africa. The plants belonging to this genus include species that are significant both economically and medicinally. As part of a doctoral thesis, biological activity (antioxidant, antimicrobial, enzyme inhibition, and cytotoxic activity) and phytochemical studies were conducted for the first time on extracts prepared from the aerial parts of Lactuca boissieri, Lactuca bourgaei and Cicerbita petiolata species, using different solvents (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and water). The antioxidant capacities of the species were determined using Total Phenolic Content Assay, FRAP Measurement, CUPRAC Assay, and DPPH Radical Scavenging Activity Assay. As a result of the biological activity studies, it was observed that the species possess moderate antioxidant and antimicrobial capacities. The enzyme inhibition studies of the extracts were conducted using acetylcholinesterase, tyrosinase, and α-glucosidase enzymes. It was found that the extracts exhibited good inhibition only against the tyrosinase enzyme. As a result of the cytotoxicity study conducted on healthy mouse fibroblast cells using the MTT assay, it was found that the methanol extracts did not exhibit any toxic effects. As a result of the biological activity studies, it was observed that L. bourgaei exhibited better activity compared to the others. When analyzing the phenolic content of the species using HPLC-DAD, a total of 8 phenolic acids (protocathechuic acid, p-OH benzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, vanillic acid, caffeic acid, and chicoric acid) and 4 flavonoids (luteolin-7-glucoside, apigenin-7-glucoside, luteolin, apigenin) were found to be common in all three species. Additionally, the chemical composition of the essential oils of the plants analyzed by GC-MS revealed that all three plants contained common compounds, including decanal, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal, (2E)-decanal, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, tridecanal, tetradecanal, phytol and hexadecanoic acid.