title: Chemical and biological insights on Cotoneaster integerrimus: A new (-)- epicatechin source for food and medicinal applications.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Cotoneaster species are widely used as traditional purposes in different countries including Turkey.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The study was performed to evaluate the biological and chemical profile of two extracts (methanol (T-Me; F-Me) and water (T-W; F-W)) from two parts (twigs and fruits) of Cotoneaster integerrimus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Antioxidant (free radical scavenging (DPPH), reducing power (CUPRAC and FRAP), phosphomolybdenum and metal chelating), enzyme inhibitory (cholinesterase, tyrosinase, α-amylase and α-glucosidase), antimicrobial (standard microorganisms and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates (MRSA)) and mutagenic/antimutagenic effects (by Ames assay) were tested for biological profile. For chemical profile, total and individual phenolic components were detected for each extract.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Generally, T-Me reflected the strongest biological effects with the highest level of phenolics (115. 15 mgGAEs/g extract). Also, twig extracts had more potent biological effects as compared to flower extracts. Eight-teen phenolics were identified in the extracts. (-)- epicatechin was the major constituent in all extracts and is mainly responsible for biological activities observed. Its amount present in F-W and T-W were 9.27 and 32.89mg/g extract, respectively. Also, molecular docking was used to understand enzyme-epicatechin interactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From these results, this plant has a great potential as a health promoter for developing novel functional food ingredients and pharmaceutical preparations.
authors.affiliation: Deparment of Medicinal Laboratory, Vocational School of Health Services, Selcuk University, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uysal
authors.affiliation: Selcuk University, Science Faculty, Department of Biology, Konya-Turkey. Electronic address: gokhanzengin@selcuk.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zengin
authors.affiliation: University "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti-Pescara, Department of Pharmacy, 66100, Chieti-Italy.
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mollica
authors.affiliation: Selcuk University, Science Faculty, Department of Biology, Konya-Turkey.
authors.forename: Erdogan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gunes
authors.affiliation: University "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti-Pescara, Department of Pharmacy, 66100, Chieti-Italy; Interuniversity Consortium of Structural and Systems Biology, 00136, Roma-Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Locatelli
authors.affiliation: Ankara University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Ankara-Turkey.
authors.forename: Turgut
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.affiliation: Selcuk University, Science Faculty, Department of Biology, Konya-Turkey.
authors.forename: Abdurrahman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aktumsek
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002392:Catechin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D027824:Rosaceae / Q000737:chemistry; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D010936:Plant Extracts; D002392:Catechin
keywords: (-)-epicatechin; Biological effect; Chemical fingerprint; Cotoneaster; Molecular docking; Nutraceuticals