Antidiabetic and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Sorbus aucuparia Fruits (Rowanberries) from Romania

This study aimed to obtain extracts concentrated in polyphenolic compounds from Sorbus aucuparia fruits and evaluate their antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic potential. Two modern extraction methods were used, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), to obtain hydroalcoholic extracts (50% EtOH v/v, 15% mass), then the extracts were purified and concentrated by membrane technologies and analyzed spectrophotometrically and chromatographically. HPLC analysis revealed the predominant polyphenolic compounds as chlorogenic acid (526.08 ± 23.35 µg/mL), rutin (36.07 ± 1.23 µg/mL), and caffeic acid (34.41 ± 1.21 µg/mL). The antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory potential of the extracts was analyzed spectrophotometrically by testing their capacity to inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase, and, respectively, hyaluronidase (HYA) and lipoxygenase (LOX). The cytotoxic potential of the extracts was tested on the mouse fibroblast NCTC clone L929 cell line. The concentrated ASE extracts showed a pronounced inhibitory activity on the tested enzymes: IC50α-glucosidase was 13.50 ± 0.96 µg/mL, (IC50acarbose was 20.19 ± 1.67 µg/mL), IC50α-amylase was 23.74 ± 1.32 µg/mL (IC50acarbose was 22.65 ± 1.27 µg/mL), and IC50LOX was 24.30 ± 1.54 µg/mL (IC50ibuprofen was 26.91 ± 1.27 µg/mL), IC50HYA was 43.04 ± 2.19 µg/mL (IC50ibuprofen was 51.54 ± 3.67 µg/mL). Also, the concentrated UAE extracts presented inhibitory activity superior to or close to that of the standard used, as follows: IC50HYA was 48.49 ± 3.15 µg/mL (IC50ibuprofen was 51.54 ± 3.67 µg/mL) and IC50α-glucosidase was 21.53 ± 1.25 µg/mL (IC50acarbose was 20.19 ± 1.67 µg/mL). The results obtained showed that Sorbus aucuparia fruits could be used in products for diabetes and inflammatory diseases.