Solvent-Dependent GC-MS and LC-MS/MS Phytochemical Profiling of Echium italicum L. Aerial Part Extracts and In Vitro Enzyme Inhibitory and DNA-Protective Effects.

Echium italicum is a medicinal plant traditionally used in Türkiye for wound healing and inflammatory conditions. In this study, chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol, and 70% ethanol extracts prepared from the aerial parts were comparatively evaluated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and their in vitro antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, and DNA interaction properties were investigated. LC-MS/MS profiling of the ethyl acetate, ethanol, and 70% ethanol extracts revealed marked solvent-dependent differences in phenolic composition, with the 70% ethanol extract containing the highest amounts of rosmarinic acid (8.858 mg/g), astragalin (4.551 mg/g), and nicotiflorin (3.874 mg/g). The GC-MS analysis showed that the primary constituents of the chloroform extract were 5-eicosene (25.30%), 1-octadecene (19.82%), and octacosanol (14.85%). The ethyl acetate extract mainly included 9-octadecenoic acid methyl ester (35.11%), methyl palmitate (25.05%), and methyl stearate (11.35%). Among all tested extracts, the 70% ethanol extract exhibited the strongest 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity (78.10% at 200 μg/mL) and the highest α-glucosidase inhibition (61.45% at 200 μg/mL), whereas effects against α-amylase, tyrosinase, and elastase were weak. In agarose gel electrophoresis assays, the 70% ethanol extract did not induce DNA strand breaks and protected pBR322 plasmid DNA against hydroxyl radical-induced oxidative damage. These results suggest that hydroethanolic extraction more effectively recovers phenolics linked to antioxidant, α-glucosidase inhibitory, and DNA-protective effects in E. italicum.