Abstract

Lipase inhibitors are drugs used to reduce the activity of lipase found in the intestine. These inhibitors are used for the treatment of obesity and cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this work was to explore in vitro the enzymatic and antioxidant activities of secondary metabolites extracts such as, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and tannins obtained with various extraction solvent systems: methanol/water, acetone/water and methanol/acetone/water from the aerial parts of five medicinal Algerian plants: Thymus algeriensis, Zygophyllum album, Thymus sepyllum, Marrubium vulgare L and Echium vulgare L. The lipase inhibition by these extracts described here has been for the first time. The results have shown a potent inhibitor, activity of lipase in acetone/water extraction mixture with ethyl acetate and butanol fractions from Thymus sepyllum and in methanol/acetone/water extraction mixture with ethyl acetate fraction from Marrubium vulgare L. The evaluation of antioxidant capacity was achieved by three chemical tests DPPH, Phosphomolybdenum and ABTS showing that our extracts possess potential antioxidant activities compared to standards.

Keywords: Antioxidant activities, Candida rugosa lipase inhibition, Echium vulgare L, Marrubium vulgare L, Thymus algeriensis, Thymus sepyllum, Zygophyllum album.