Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, and Anti-Diabetic Activities of Scorzonera phaeopappa Boiss

Wild edible plants have attracted increasing interest from researchers because of their richness in biologically active phytochemicals. These are found to be a potential remedy for oxidative-stress-mediated diseases such as diabetes mellitus. In this study, total phenol, total terpene, and total flavonoid content as well as antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of Scorzonera phaeopappa Boiss from Lebanon were determined. Using dichloromethane, dichloromethane ammonia, methanol, acetone, and ethanol, extracts were prepared from the edible leaves. The antioxidant activity and the antidiabetic activity were determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging, Fe2+-chelating and α-amylase/α-glucosidase inhibitory assays, respectively. Dichloromethane ammonia was found to have the highest extraction capacity on phenols (2.73 mg GAE /100 mg extract) and terpenes (232.42 mg LE/100 mg extract). Methanol was found to have the highest extraction capacity on total flavonoids (63.05 mg QE/100 mg extract). The methanol extract exhibited the highest DPPH scavenging activity (IC50 0.07 mg/mL) and the highest chelating activity as compared to other extracts (0.08 mg/mL, chelating activity 50%). The acetone extract was two times more active than acarbose against α-amylase enzyme and was the most active against α-glucosidase (6.3 mg/mL). Significant positive correlations were observed between total phenol content and α-glucosidase inhibitory assay and total terpene content and α-glucosidase inhibitory assay.