BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES AND PHENOLIC COMPOSITION OF WASHINGTONIA FILIFERA SEEDS

Plant materials represent a great source of antioxidant and bioactive compounds which are different in their chemical composition and biological properties. There has been a remarkable increment on research of antioxidant molecules because of their protective action against oxidative stress. It causes serious cell and tissue damage leading it to be the major cause of aging process and the pathogenesis of several diseases like diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. The chemical composition and the biological properties of fruits of the palm Washingtonia filifera (Lindl.) H.Wendl. is poorly studied. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to investigate the potential bioactivity of W. filifera fruit extracts and relate them with the phenolic profile. The phenolic composition, antioxidant capacity and the inhibitory activity on different enzymes implicate in several disease were evaluated. In particular, W. filifera seed extracts appeared to be a good source of phenolics and showed a significant antioxidant activity. The phenolic composition mainly consisted of procyanidin dimers B1–B4. Alcoholic seed extracts displayed interesting xanthine oxidase, butyrylcholinesterase, elastase, collagenase, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Docking studies were also performed to predict the binding sites of the main compounds identified within enzymes structure. All in all, W. filifera seeds appear as a promising natural source for the purification of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and biological properties.