Anticholinesterase activities from aqueous extract of different plant parts of Erica manipuliflora

Abstract

Erica species are generally spread along the coasts of Turkey. There are five Erica species in these regions, namely; E. arborea, E. manipuliflora, E, bocquetii, E. sicula subsp. Libanotica and E. spiculifolia salisb. Among these species, E. manipuliflora is commonly found in Muğla and southwest part of Turkey. Erica species are called as "funda", "püren" or "tree heath" locally in Turkey and contain biologically active compounds such as flavonoids, coumarins and triterpenoids. Since ancient times, these species have been used as herbal tea and folk medicine by local people in Turkey. In folk medicine, they are used for diuretic, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory purposes. Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is useful for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In this study anticholinesterase activity of aqueous extracts of leaves, flowers and aerial parts of E. manipuliflora have been investigated spectrophotometrically. The aerial parts extract of E. manipuliflora among the extracts (70.10%) showed the best inhibitory activity against AChE enzyme at 200 µg/mL concentrations. The extracts of leaves and flowers showed 44.42%, 49.91% inhibitions against acetylcholinesterase enzyme at 200 µg/mL concentrations respectively.The flowers extract of E. manipuliflora (80.41%) exhibited the best BChE inhibitory activity at 200 µg/mL concentrations. At the same concentration, the galantamine showed 82.23% inhibitory activity. Leaves and aerial parts extracts showed 15,75%, 31.62% inhibitory activity against BChE respectively. Hence, aerial parts of E. manipuliflora may be useful as a moderate anticholinesterase agent, and flowers of E. manipuliflora may be useful as the butyrylcholinesterase agent.