ANTIOXIDANT, ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND ANTI-ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITIES OF ELEVEN EXTRACTS OF MOROCCAN PLANTS

The capacity of ethanolic extracts of wHaloxylon scoparium Pomel, Corrigiola telephiifolia Pourr., Ammodaucus leucotrichus Cosson & Durieu subsp. leucotrichus, Chamaerops humilis L., Sideritis arborescens Salzm. ex Benth., Ammi visnaga (L.) Lam., Vitex agnus castus L., Retama raetam (Forssk.) Webb & Berthel., Berberis vulgaris L., Viscum album L., and Equisetum arvense L. from Morocco to prevent lipid peroxidation, scavenging free radicals, inhibiting lipoxygenase and acetylcholinesterase activities, were evaluated and compared to those reported in the literature. As far as we know, the present work was the first reporting on the antioxidant ability of S. arborescens. The results showed that Equisetum arvense and Sideritis arborescens (stems) possessed the highest concentrations of total phenols and flavonoids, respectively, and the extracts of Berberis vulgaris and Viscum album were the most promising as antioxidants as well as anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors. In some cases, the activities of B. vulgaris extracts were not significantly different from those found for positive control (e.g. capacity for scavenging free radicals, and capacity for inhibiting AChE).