Research Information System
Archives Of Biological Sciences, vol.73, no.1, pp.13-28, 2020 (Journal Indexed in SCI)
Many species of the Allium genus, principally the cultivated forms, are widely used as
vegetables, spices and natural therapeutics due to their beneficial health properties. This study aimed to
identify the phenolic composition and biological activities of the bulb, stem and flower parts of Allium
pallens L., collected from two different localities. A total of 28 phenolic compounds were investigated
by LC-ESI-MS/MS, and gallic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and benzoic acid were found to be the
major phenolic compounds in the plants from both locations. Total phenolic- and flavonoid-content
analyses of samples were carried out using spectrophotometry, and the stem extracts were found to be
rich in phenolics. DPPH, ABTS, FRAP and CUPRAC assays were used to determine the antioxidant
capacities of the extracts. A linear relation was observed between the phenolic contents of the extracts
and their antioxidant activities, and the stem extracts of plants from both locations were found to have
potent antioxidant capacity. The inhibitory activities of the extracts against acetylcholinesterase,
butyrylcholinesterase and tyrosinase were determined using a 96-well microplate reader. The antibutyrylcholinesterase activity of the extracts was found to be the highest. The outcomes of these
investigations were further explored, and the underlying structure of multivariate data was revealed
using principal component analysis. This study presents the distribution of chemical constituents and
biological activities of the different parts of A. pallens, and also contributes to further investigations of
Allium species.