Bioactive constituents from roots of Salvia syriaca L.: Acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and molecular docking studies

Several Salvia species have been used to enhance memory in European traditional medicine. Accordingly, we aimed to evaluate the acetone extract of the roots of Salvia syriaca for anti-Alzheimer constituents. Structures of purified compounds were determined as ursolic acid, corosolic acid, β -sitosterol, urs-12-en-2 α ,3 β -diol and daucosterol (1–5). β -sitosterol and daucosterol exhibited high acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities (24.1 and 34.3 μg/mL, respectively). The experimental results were also confirmed by docking analysis.