Mediterranean Asteraceae as Natural Sources of Antioxidants and Enzyme Inhibitors: A Case Study on Urospermum dalechampii and Andryala integrifolia From Tunisia.

This study investigated the phenolic composition, antioxidant capacity, and key enzyme-inhibitory activities of hydroethanolic leaf extracts from two Mediterranean Asteraceae, Urospermum dalechampii and Andryala integrifolia, from Tunisia. U. dalechampii exhibited higher total phenolic content (62.84 mg GAE/g crude extract), whereas A. integrifolia showed higher flavonoids (34.55 mg QE/g crude extract). The UHPLC-DAD-MS analysis revealed caffeoylquinic acid isomers, flavonols (quercetin and kaempferol types), and flavones (luteolin derivatives) in both species, while cynarine was detected in U. dalechampii.  Some compounds were specific, such as caftaric acid, which was detected only in U. dalechampii leaf extract. Both species exhibited notable antioxidant capacities, with U. dalechampii showing stronger radical-scavenging activity (DPPH: EC50  = 0.95 mg/mL; ABTS: EC50  = 0.72 mg/mL), whereas A. integrifolia displayed higher reducing power (FRAP: EC50 = 5.40 mg/mL) and copper-chelating activity (EC50  = 1.72 mg/mL). A. integrifolia showed marked inhibition of tyrosinase (IC50  = 0.54 mg/mL), α-glucosidase (IC50  = 1.9 mg/mL), and lipase (IC50  = 9.7 mg/mL). Both leaf extracts from studied species inhibited AChE, while only A. integrifolia inhibited BChE (IC50  = 8.63 mg/mL). No cytotoxicity was detected at 100 µg/mL in human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2), neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y), embryonic kidney (HEK-293), and murine melanoma (B16) cells. These results highlight these two plants as a promising source of multifunctional bioactive compounds and demonstrate that unexploited wild plants could offer new prospects for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.