Evaluation of phytochemical, antioxidant and enzymatic inhibitory content of extracts obtained with different solvents from Salvia hypoleuca Benth.

Various species of Salvia has been used in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries.In this study, aerial parts of Salvia hypoleuca L. which is an endemic plant to Iran were collected during the flowering stage in the summer of 2020 from Alamut city of Qazvin province. In the present study, the total content of phenolic, flavonoid, saponin and tannins, four hexane, ethyl acetate, methanolic and aqueous extracts prepared by maceration method were investigated. The antioxidant properties of these extracts were measured by DPPH, ABTS, phosphomolybdenum and iron chelating methods. In addition, α-amylase, α-glucosidase and tyrosinase enzyme inhibitory effects of the plant were measured by spectrophotometry. Based on the results, ethyl acetate extract of the plant had the highest phenolic and saponin content with values ​​of 87.07 mg gallic acid g-1 and 163.84 mg quillaja saponin g-1, respectively. The aqueous extract of the plant exhibited the highest amounts of flavonoids and condensed tannins content with 33.97 and 5.34 mg quercetin and catechin g-1 in the extract, respectively. Ethyl acetate extract indicated the highest ABTS radical scavenging, total antioxidant, ferrous ion chelating activities, as well as inhibitory effects of α-amylase, α-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibition properties. The high potential of ethyl acetate extract in biological properties, like antioxidant and antiradical activities could be attributed to its high metabolite contents especially, phenolic and saponin compounds. Thus, it could be concluded that this plant is a rich source of functional secondary metabolites and ethyl acetate is the best extractant solvent. The results of this study confirmed the potential of Salvia hypoleuca for medicinal uses, especially for diabetes and skin diseases.