Scrophularia Tenuipes Coss and Durieu: Phytochemical Composition and Biological Activities

Scrophularia tenuipes is an Algerian-Tunisian endemic species, which has not been studied yet. Ethyl acetate (EA) and n-butanol (Bu) fractions obtained from Scrophularia tenuipes were investigated for their health benefit properties, in particular with respect to in vivo/in vitro anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, as well as their potential to inhibit key enzymes with impact in diabetes (α-glucosidase and α-amylase). The fractions had a distinct phytochemical composition, of which EA was richer in total phenolic compounds (225 mg GAE/g) and mostly composed of the phenylethanoid acetyl martynoside. Compared to EA, Bu had higher amounts of total flavonoids, and according to the result obtained from UHPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn analysis, harpagoside (iridoid) was its major phytochemical. EA fraction was quite promising with regard to the in vivo (at 200 mg/kg, po) anti-inflammatory effect (62% and 52% for carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and xylene-induced ear edema tests, respectively), while Bu fraction exhibited a stronger antioxidant capacity in all tests (IC50 = 68 µg/mL, IC50 = 18 µg/mL, IC50 = 18 µg/mL and A0.50 = 43 µg/mL for DPPH●, ABTS•+, O2•− scavenging assays and cupric-reducing antioxidant capacity method, respectively). Both fractions also showed a strong effect against α-amylase enzyme (IC50 = 8 µg/mL and 10 µg/mL for EA and Bu fraction, respectively).