Walnut Seed Coat (Juglans regia L.), a Plant Effective in Human Health: Antioxidant Activity and in Rats Nephroprotective Effect

Abstract

In the study, the seed coat (WSC) of Posof (Ardahan/Türkiye) walnuts was extracted to determine their phytochemical components and antioxidant capacities. The effects of bioactive components in the ethanol extract of WSC (E-WSC) on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitors were investigated. Additionally, antioxidant enzyme activity parameters were measured in the kidney tissues of Triton WR-1339-induced hyperlipidemic rats. Bioactive compounds in WSC were identified by GC-MS system. The antioxidant properties of WSC were measured using Fe+3, Cu+2 and Fe+3-2,4,6-tripyridyl-s-triazine (TPTZ) reducing agent, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'- azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) scavenging activities. In this analysis, using 30 male Wistar rats (300 ± 30 g) randomly divided into five groups were treated as follows; K1: Healthy control group, K2: E-WSC (150 mg) o.d., K3: E-WSC (300 mg) o.d., K4: Hyperlipidemic group i.p., K5: Hyperlipidemic group i.p. + E-WSC (300 mg) o.d. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) analyzes were performed in kidney tissues. Based on these results, it was clearly determined that E-WSC has significant antioxidant activity due to its bioactive components, has an inhibitory effect on AChE and BChE enzymes, and has a protective effect against oxidative stress by improving hyperlipidemia-related kidney damage.