Citation: Saidi, A.; Hambaba, L.;
Bensaad, M.S.; Kadi, I.E.; Bensouici,
C.; Sami, R.; Alharthi, S.; Elhakem, A.;
Alsharari, Z.D.; Baty, R.S.; et al.
Phytochemical Analysis Using
cLC-DAD, Nutritional Importance
and Assessment of Antioxidant,
Antidiabetic and Anticholinesterase
Activities of Ruta tuberculata Forssk
Organic Extracts. Sustainability 2022,
14, 10451. https://doi.org/10.3390/
su141610451
Academic Editors: Ivan Savic and
Ivana Savic Gajic
Received: 19 July 2022
Accepted: 13 August 2022
Published: 22 August 2022
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affil-
iations.
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
sustainability
Article
Phytochemical Analysis Using cLC-DAD, Nutritional
Importance and Assessment of Antioxidant, Antidiabetic and
Anticholinesterase Activities of Ruta tuberculata Forssk
Organic Extracts
Asma Saidi
1,2
, Leila Hambaba
1
, Mohamed Sabri Bensaad
1,3
, Imed Eddine Kadi
4
, Chawki Bensouici
4
,
Rokayya Sami
5,
* , Sarah Alharthi
6
, Abeer Elhakem
7
, Zayed D. Alsharari
8
, Roua S. Baty
9
,
Raja Saad Alruwais
10
, Mahmood D. Aljabri
11
, Mohammed M. Rahman
12
, Ali A. Shati
13
and Fahmy G. Elsaid
13,14
1
Laboratory of Biotechnology of Bioactive Molecules and Cellular Physiopathology (LBMBPC), Department of
Microbiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, University Batna 2, Batna 05078, Algeria
2
Department of Natural Sciences and Life, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Natural Sciences and Life,
Mohamed Khider University, Biskra 07000, Algeria
3
Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Physio-Toxicology-Pathology and Biomolecules (LPTPCMB),
Department of Biology of Organisms, Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, University Batna 2,
Batna 05078, Algeria
4
Biotechnology Research Center, Ali Mendjli UV 03, Constantine 25000, Algeria
5
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099,
Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
6
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
7
Department of Biology, College of Science and Humanities in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam bin
Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 11942, Al-Kharj 16273, Saudi Arabia
8
Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, P.O. Box 4279,
Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia
9
Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
10
Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Humanities, Shaqra University, P.O. Box 33,
Dawadmi 17452, Saudi Arabia
11
Department of Chemistry, University College in Al-Jamoum, Umm Al-Qura University, P.O. Box 715,
Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia
12
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80200,
Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
13
Biology Department, Science College, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 960, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia
14
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, P.O. Box 70, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
* Correspondence: rokayya.d@tu.edu.sa
Abstract: Among the Mediterranean aromatic plants, Ruta tuberculata Forssk. (Rutaceae) has been
widely used as a traditional natural remedy against various disorders resulting from its divers’
pharmacological virtues. The aim of this study is to characterize for the first time the phenolic profile
of its ethyl acetate (EtOAcE) and acetonic (AcE) extracts and to screen their in vitro antioxidant,
antidiabetic, and neuroprotective activities. Phenolic content was determined using spectrophoto-
metric and cLC-DAD analysis. Pharmacologically, in vitro antioxidant power was evaluated using
six different antioxidant methods. Moreover, the antidiabetic and neuroprotective capacities were
assessed in vitro by determining the α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory
activities. Phytochemically, the highest flavonoid content was found in EtOAcE where the major
identified compounds were myrecetin, rutin, sylimarin, naringenin, and quercetin. In presence of
other phenolic acids, gallic acid was exclusively detected in AcE. Furthermore, both R. tuberculata
extracts showed significantly remarkable antioxidant activities, especially the EtOAcE. Interestingly,
AcE strongly inhibited the acetylcholinesterase and α-glucosidase, with the respective IC
50
values of
20.48 ± 0.2 and 104.5 ± 1.8 μg/mL. In this study, we also reported the nutritional quality associated
with the identified phytocompounds. R. tuberculata organic extracts may offer exciting reserves to
achieve new anti-diabetic and anti-Alzheimer drugs which have also antioxidant potential.
Sustainability 2022, 14, 10451. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610451 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability