Chemical Composition And Anticholinesterase Activity Of Cultivated Bulbs From Hippeastrum Elegans, A Potential Tropical Source Of Bioactive Alkaloids

Hippeastrum elegans is a Brazilian Amaryllidaceae plant producing galantamine (GAL), an anticholinesterase drug for Alzheimer's disease, besides other alkaloids such as pseudolycorine (PSE), narciclasine (NAR) and sanguinine (SAN). Therefore, we used a metabolomic approach to investigate the influence of the harvest time on its chemical composition and acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE). Alkaloid extracts were analyzed by UPLC-ESI-MS and 1H NMR, then assessed for AChE inhibitory activity. These data were combined and analyzed by Partial Least Square (PLS) regression. H. elegans was found to be rich in PSE and NAR, achieving higher contents in 270 and 390 days of cultivation, respectively. However, the highest anti-AChE activities were observed for 450 days-bulbs extracts. PLS indicated pseudolycorine as the discriminant compound for this extract, hence responsible for its higher anti-AChE activity jointly with the known AChE inhibitors GAL and SAN. Thus, the cultivation of H. elegans appears to be a promising way for providing bioactive alkaloids.