In the present study, a GC‐MS method used for quantitative screening of 26 compounds (sclareolide, sclareol, ferruginol, cryptanol, 6,7‐dehydroroyleanone, suginal, 9,10‐dihydro‐7,8‐dimethyl‐2‐(1‐methylethyl) phenanthren‐3‐ol, sugiol, inuroyleanone, 12‐demethylmulticauline, 7α‐hydroxy‐β‐sitosterol, stigmasterol, sitosterol, salvigenin, sinensetin, α‐amyrin, lupeol, lupenone, 3‐acetyl lupeol, 1α,21α‐dihydroxy‐2,3‐(1′1′‐dimethyl‐dioxymethylene) urs‐9(11),12‐dien, uvaol, betulin, pyxinol, lup‐(20),29‐ene‐2α‐hydroxy‐3β‐acetate, betulin 3β, 28β‐diacetate, 21α‐hydroxy,2α,3β‐diacetoxy urs‐9(11),12‐dien) specific to Turkish Salvia species was developed and validated. According to the GC–MS analysis results, Salvia hypargeia Fisch. & C.A. Mey. roots were found to be rich in ferruginol (30787.97 µg/g extract) and lupenone (23276.21 µg/g extract), and leaves in lupeol (20625.92 µg/g extract). Additionally, the essential oil and aroma contents of this species were identified by GC‐MS technique. According to the LC‐MS/MS results, especially S. hypargeia leaf extract was rich in rosmarinic acid (38035.7 µg/g extract) and isoquercitrin (4136.91 µg/g extract). Furthermore, anticholinesterase, antiurease, antityrosinase and antielastase inhibitory, antioxidant, cytotoxic activities of the ethanol extracts, essential oil, and major components of the species were evaluated. Antioxidant potentials of all extracts of this species were quite high in all studied antioxidant methods. Moreover, butyrylcholinesterase and elastase inhibitory capacities of ferruginol, the major component of S. hypargeia roots, were notable. For these reasons, this species has a high potential for food and pharmaceutical industries. Practical applications This new GC–MS method was applied to S. hypargeia Fisch. & C.A. Mey. and it indicated that this species possessed high amount of ferruginol and lupeol, and that this species could be used for their natural sources. According to the results of the activity studies (antioxidant, anticholinesterase, tyrosinase, elastase, and cytotoxic), this method was used to exhibit which compound may be responsible for the activities. This developed and validated method could be easily applied to determine major/active/toxic secondary metabolites of Salvia species which are used and/or could be used in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries.

Gundelia species are known as “Kenger‐kereng dikeni” in Anatolia, and their aerial parts are consumed as food. Also, roots and seeds (disseminules) of the Gundelia species are used to prepare gum and coffee. The chemical contents of ethanol and hexane extracts of disseminules of 17 Gundelia species, 13 of them are endemic, were studied using LC/MS/MS and GC/MS. Additionally, their antioxidant potential and enzyme inhibitory capacity against acetyl‐ and butyryl‐cholinesterase, urease, and tyrosinase were determined. The unsaturated fatty acid ratios of Gundelia species were higher than their saturated fatty acid ratio. The highest sum of oleic and linoleic acid was detected in G. tournefortii var. tenuisecta (70.42 %). β‐Sitosterol, α‐amyrin, 3‐acetyllupeol were identified in 17 Gundelia species by GC/MS, while chlorogenic acid and luteolin by LC/MS/MS as major compounds. The ethanol and hexane extracts of G. siirtica, G. rosea, and G. mesopotamica indicated good cholinesterase inhibitory activity. Among all species, ethanol extract of G. colemerikensis exhibited the best activity in ABTS (IC50: 32.30±0.98 μg/mL), DPPH (IC50: 59.91±0.89 μg/mL), and CUPRAC (A0.5: 57.41±1.03 μg/mL) assays. Ethanol extract of G. colemerikensis also displayed the highest inhibitory activity against butyrylcholinesterase (51.14±0.25 % at 200 μg/mL), urease (51.71±1.75 % at 200 μg/mL), and tyrosinase (39.50±0.85 % at 200 μg/mL) enzymes. According to the chemometric analysis of fatty acids, four groups were observed. Therefore, it is suggested that G. colemerikensis can be used in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries due to its antioxidant and enzyme inhibition properties.

Several Saharan plants, despite their abundance of natural compounds, have received little attention. In this study, the chemical composition of polar extracts of Tourneuxia variifolia Coss.(Asteraceae), an endemic species to Algerian Sahara, was investigated and their anticancer activity was evaluated in vitro. The phytoconstituents of both ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and n-butanol (n-BuOH) extracts were screened using LC/MS-MS technique. The anticancer activity of the above extracts was measured against human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cell line. The LC/MS-MS analyses results revealed that twenty-seven phytochemicals in EtOAc extract and twenty-three in n-BuOH extract were identified and quantified from which isoquercetin and astragalin were the most present. Moreover; the EtOAc extract was found to have a strong anticancer activity (IC 50 : 46.797±0.060µg/mL). These findings identified T. variifolia as a potential plant exhibiting anticancer properties.