Plants are an endless source of bioactive compounds and have been at the centre of research investigating pivotal candidates for plant-derived drugs and dietary supplements. This study evaluated phenolic profiles, triterpenoid contents, enzyme inhibitory activities, antioxidant capacities, and total phenolic content (TPC) of the polar extracts from Crataegus tanacetifolia and Crataegus orientalis. LCMS/MS and GC-MS analyses revealed 25 phenolic compounds and two triterpenoids in C. tanacetifolia, and 26 phenolic compounds and one triterpenoid in C. orientalis, with quinic acid as the dominant phenolic compound in both extracts. Oleanolic acid and ursolic acid were detected in the C. tanacetifolia extract, whereas only ursolic acid was identified in the C. orientalis extract. Both extracts showed strong angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition activity (~99%), indicating antihypertensive potential, as well as notable urease inhibition activity (C. tanacetifolia: 87.08%; C. orientalis: 91.66%). The C. tanacetifolia and C. orientalis extracts also exhibited significant antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 123.38 and 97.29 µg/mL for DPPH radical scavenging activity and 82.37 and 92.34% for linoleic acid/β-carotene bleaching capacity. The TPC of the extracts was determined to be 26.13 and 76.80 mg GAE/g, respectively. The results showed that C. tanacetifolia and C. orientalis could be valuable sources of bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products.
Fındık et al. (Thu,) studied this question.