Key words: subcritical water, extraction, olive leaves (Olea europaea L.), polyphenols, anti-acetylcholinesterase activity, Ellman’s method, Alzheimer’s disease
The content of secondary plant metabolites (the sum of polyphenolic compounds and flavonoids) obtained by subcritical water (SubCW) and traditional extraction by wateralcoholic mixture from olive (Olea europaea) leaves was studied, and their acetylcholinesterase (anti-AChE) activity was determined and characterized by the IC50 value — the concentration of olive leaf extracts, which leads to 50 % inhibition of the activity of the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme. It was shown that the content of polyphenolic compounds and anti-AChE activity of extracts depend on the used extraction method. The SubCW extract obtained at 220 °C contains the maximum amount of polyphenolic compounds and demonstrates the highest anti-AChE activity (IC50 = 0.4 mg/ml). The least active in relation to the inhibition of the AChE enzyme was found to be the extract obtained by traditional aqueous-alcoholic extraction (IC50 = 3.6 mg/ml). The results obtained show the promise of using subcritical water to obtain extracts with a high content of polyphenols for the development of pharmaceutical products and food additives for the prevention and treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, from the waste of olive oil production (olive leaves).
doi:10.34984/SCFTP.2021.16.2.004