Species of the Genus Salix L.: Biochemical Screening and Molecular Docking Approach to Potential Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors

Abstract

The genus Salix includes about 500 different, mainly woody species with potentially significant medicinal values. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of little-studied bark and leaves extracts of seven different species of the genus Salix, and to examine the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory potential of selected compounds. The extracts were characterized by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Total phenolics and flavonoids content was determined spectrophotometrically and the antioxidant activity by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) scavenging assays. Molecular docking studies were conducted in order to elucidate the interaction and binding affinity between selected compounds of willow bark and leaves against AChE. The major components in bark and leaves of most of the species were rutin (1.26–22.09 mg/g), salicin (1.62–17.33 mg/g), chlorogenic acid (0.74–7.53 mg/g) and epicatechin (0.71–4.83 mg/g). The latter three compounds demonstrated significant inhibitory potential against AChE in docking studies. All extracts exhibited notable antioxidant activity as scavengers of both DPPH• and •OH. The obtained results indicate that willow species other than those in commercial use, and not only bark, but willow leaves as well, could be utilized as sources of valuable phytocompounds with antioxidant and neuroprotective properties.

Influence of Dietary Supplementation of Salix alba Bark on Performance, Oxidative Stress Parameters in Liver and Gut Microflora of Broilers

“…There are many studies showing that Salix alba bark is a natural source of phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity [8,9,11]. Compared to data reported by [6] on total phenolic content of ethanolic extracts of S. alba bark, our results are 2.4 times higher. Also, ethanolic extract of S. alba and S. purpurea bark are reported to contain important concentration of phenolic compounds [23].…”

“…The parts of willow species which can be used are mainly represented by bark and leaf. Besides the salicin content, willow also represents a source of bioactive compounds, including polyphenols and flavonoids, with significant implications in fulfilling the curative roles of willow [6].…”

Use of a hydroalcoholic extract of Salix alba L. bark powder in diets of broilers exposed to high heat stress

“…The differences between the present results and those reported by Sulaiman et al (2013) may be because differences in solvents that were used in extraction (grain/water as opposed to boiled ethanol), the extraction method (hydro-alcoholic extraction as opposed to Soxhlet), extraction time, and environmental factors. Many researchers have reported major differences in the concentration of polyphenols of willow bark extracts (Durak & Gawlik-Dziki, 2014;Zabihi et al, 2018;Gligoric et al, 2019). Among the causes of their differences are the part of product that was used and the Salix species.…”

Wood Bark as Valuable Raw Material for Compounds with a Bioregulator Effect in Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis L.) Plants

“…Regarding tannin content, it was concluded that SBPE has 1.14% and BBPE has 1.47% [19]. The results showed that the beech bark extracts contained considerable quantities of aromatic compounds, such as (+)-catechin, (−)-epicatechin, quercetin-O-hexoside, taxifolin-O-hexosides, taxifolin-O-pentosides, B-type and C-type procyanidins, syringic acid, and coumaric acid-di-O-glycosides, coniferyl alcohol and sinapyl alcohol-glycosides, and (+) and (−) glucodistylin [11,18,19]. The compounds identified in spruce bark extract by HPLC were gallic acid (3.19 mg GAE/100 g), catechine (31 mg GAE/100 g), and vanillic acid (39.4 mg GAE/100 g) [13].…”

“…Polyphenols have a significant role in the protection of living cells against biotic (fungi, infections, diseases) and abiotic (wounds, drought, and pollution) factors. Polyphenols are known for their antioxidant capacity [11,12]. The effects of polyphenolic extracts as antioxidant agents, plant growth regulators, or bioremediation agents have been successfully tested [12][13][14][15].…”