Unlocking The Therapeutic Potential of Silene compacta: A Comparative Study of Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibitory Activities Across Solvent Extracts

There has been a growing focus on the pharmacological research of medicinal plants, particularly their physiological and pharmacological effects. This study explores the chemical composition, antioxidant, and enzyme inhibitory activities of water, methanol, and ethyl acetate extracts from Silene compacta. The methanol extract demonstrated the highest total phenolic (30.88 mg GAEs/g) and flavonoid (50.19 mg REs/g) contents, translating to superior antioxidant activities in the DPPH• (45.82 mg TEs/g) and ABTS•+ (57.03 mg TEs/g) assays, as well as in CUPRAC and FRAP assays. In contrast, the ethyl acetate extract, while lower in phenolics, exhibited remarkable activity in the phosphomolybdenum assay (275.10 mg TEs/g) and showed strong enzyme inhibitory activities, particularly against α-glucosidase (1470.25 mg ACEs/g) and AChE (3.11 mg GALAEs/g). The water extract, with intermediate phenolic content, displayed balanced antioxidant properties across different assays, but its enzyme inhibitory effects were weaker. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive relationships between total phenolic content and most antioxidant assays, underscoring the importance of phenolic compounds in contributing to the observed bioactivities. The findings suggest that methanol extracts are particularly promising for applications requiring potent antioxidant properties, while ethyl acetate extracts might be more suited for enzyme inhibition-related applications. Future research should consider in vivo studies and explore the synergistic effects among different phytochemicals to fully understand the therapeutic potential of S. compacta.