Evaluation of Melia azedarach L. from the view point of pharmacognosy

Melia azedarach L. (Meliaceae) is a plant species whose native lands are India and China and also cultivated in our country. The plant has gained a popularity due to its strong insecticidal activity and is candidate to become a commercial biopesticide soon. However, no bioactivity and phytochemical study has been performed on M. azedarach growing in our country up to date. Therefore, M. azedarach has been selected as the topic of this thesis and acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase and tyrosinase enzyme inhibitory, antioxidant activity by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity, iron ion-chelation effect, and ferric ion-reducing antioxidant power methods as well as antibacterial and antifungal activity by microdilution method of the various polarity extracts prepared from the fruits and leafy branches were established. Besides, total phenol and flavonoid contents of the extracts were calculated spectrophotometrically and fatty acid compositions of the fruit fixed oil and leaf hexane extract were elucidated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In this thesis, butyrylcholinesterase and tyrosinase enzyme inhibition, antioxidant activity by the afore-mentioned methods as well as detailed fatty acid composition of the fruit fixed oil have been established for the first time.