Objective: This research planned to record traditional uses and preparations of herbal medicines in Savaştepe, Balıkesir. The study was conducted between the years 2012-2016. The Savaştepe district is located on the borders of Balıkesir province. Methods: 44 villages connected to Savaştepe were visited during the research. With the help of the local people, the collected plants were diagnosed and converted into herbarium specimens. All herbarium samples are stored in the Herbarium of Istanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy (ISTE). Information about the use of plants were collected by the help of interviews with 205 people (107 men, 98 women). Results: As a result of this study, there were 163 medicinal plant taxa belonging to 53 families. Mostly used medicinal plant species families are Lamiaceae (22 taxa), Asteraceae (20 taxa), Rosaceae (16 taxa), Fabaceae (6 taxa), Brassicaceae (7 taxa), Apiaceae (4 taxa), Poaceae (4 taxa), Scrophulariaceae (4 taxa) respectively. According to the informations, the most common diseases were categozied into 12 group and their FIC values are calculated. The highest FIC value (0.852) for hemorrhoids. Having high use value represents that this taxa is commonly used in Savaştepe. The highest use value is 0.93 for Urtica dioica Conclusion: This study documented the medicinal plants used by local people of Savaştepe and also the uses, preparations and vernacular names of medicinal plant species. This study will help to concerve valuable informations of the medicinal plants of Savaştepe.

The essential oil (EO) compositions and chemotypes of the important ethnomedicinal plant Vitex agnus-castus L. flowers, leaves, and fruits collected from Türkiye (Balıkesir and İstanbul) were identified in the present study. Different parts of the V. agnus-castus EO’s in-vitro cytotoxic effects on the MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma) and A549 (human lung carcinoma) human-origin cell lines were anaylzed in the current study. The composition of hydrodistiled EOs extracted from flowers, leaves, and fruits of V. agnus-castus were analyzed by GC–FID/MS. Monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpene compounds were detected as the predominant component class of the V. agnus-castus. EOs extracted from Balıkesir region were defined as the “α-pinene-1,8-cineole” chemotype, while EOs extracted from İstanbul region were defined as the “sabinene-1,8-cineole” chemotype. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons constituted more than 20% of the compounds in the EOs extracted from the flowers. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to analyze the in-vitro cytotoxic effects of flowers. This study is also the first to show the in-vitro cytotoxic effects of fruit, the most commonly used part of the plant, EO on the MCF-7 cell line. Balıkesir region’s EOs were observed as more potent -especially the purple flower’s IC50 is about 4.68 µg/mL on the MCF7 cell line- than İstanbul regions, which might be attributed to the higher amount of α-pinene, caryophyllene, and limonene content. Our results indicated that the V. agnus-castus EOs, which contain α-pinene, 1,8-cineole, caryophyllene, and limonene as major components, showed relatively high cytotoxic effects compared to the control groups on the MCF7 and A549 cell lines.

Equisetum telmateia Ehrh. (great horsetail) belongs to the Equisetaceae family and its aerial parts have been traditionally used for skin conditions and to achieve healthy and resilient skin, nails, and hair. This study aimed to evaluate the inhibition of skin-related enzymes by, the antioxidant capacity of, and the phytochemical composition of E. telmateia. Additionally, a novel emulgel was formulated from the main methanolic extract and characterized in terms of pH, viscosity, determination of content quantification, textural profile analysis, and spreadability. After the characterization studies, in vitro release and ex vivo permeation and penetration studies were performed. Firstly, the dried aerial parts of E. telmateia were macerated in methanol, followed by partitioning with solvents of increasing polarity: n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol. Antioxidant activity was assessed using DPPH, FRAP, CUPRAC, and TOAC assays, while enzyme inhibition was analyzed for collagenase, elastase, hyaluronidase, and tyrosinase. LC-MS/MS analysis identified 53 phytochemical compounds. Protocatechuic acid, the main phenolic compound, was quantitatively analyzed in each subfraction by HPTLC. The in vitro release studies showed sustained release of the reference substance (protocatechuic acid) and the kinetic modeling of the release was fitted to the Higuchi model. The ex vivo permeation and penetration studies showed that the formulation exhibited a retention of 3.06 ± 0.21 µg.cm⁻² after 24 h, whereas the suspended extract demonstrated a skin retention of 1.28 ± 0.47 µg.cm⁻². Both the extracts and the formulated emulgel exhibited inhibitory effects on skin-related enzymes. Our finding suggested that E. telmateia might be a valuable ingredient for wrinkle care and skin-regenerating cosmetics.

Within the last two or three decades the treatment of the neurodegenerative disorders became became the main focus of the researches. In this, our aim was to determine some biological activities of the ethanolic and methanolic extracts of Salvia sclarea L. After obtaining the extracts, first they have been tested for their DPPH radical scavenging activity and then the total phenolic contents of the extracts have been identified. Afterwords, the extracts were evaluated for both their effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and monoamine oxidase-A. These two enzymes are very important enyzmes for their importance in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. AChE plays a very crucial role especially in Alzheimer’s Disease. Monoamine oxidases and their inhibitors have also critical value in Alzheimer type dementia and in other neurologic diseases. It has been found that DPPH activity of the methanolic extract was higher than that of ethanolic extracts; while TPC was higher for the ethanolic extract. IC50 values were found for both AChE and MAO-A. For AChE the IC50 values for ethanolic extract and methanolic extract were, 0,27±0,005 mg/mL and 1,19±0,037 mg/mL; respectively. And for MAO-A the IC50 values for ethanolic extract and methanolic extract were 6,53±0,72 microgramg/mL and 3,03±0,05 microgram/mL; respectively.