Antioxidant activity and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory of Scabiosa atraupurpuria sub maritima L. Extract

The present study is devoted to evaluating the antioxidant activities and determining the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase for a plant used in traditional medicine to treat some skin diseases and in particular the scabies. The plant is Scabiosa atropurpurea L. Organic extracts were obtained by maceration with three solvents with increasing polarity: hexane, chloroform and methanol. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using three different methods: the DPPH• free radical scavenging activity, the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and the carotene bleaching assay. All three methods showed that the methanolic extract had the highest antioxidant activity and was found to be the most efficient (IC50 = 27.5 μg/mL) against acetylcholinesterase. Consequently, a methanolic extract of Scabiosa atropurpurea L. could be exploited for its pharmacological applications in order to prevent induced diseases relying on oxidative stress.