A Study on Recognizing the Value of Chestnut (Castanea sativa) Blossom Waste

Abstract

Chestnut (Castanea sativa) blossoms are natural resources that are not put to economic use and that are completely mixed as waste with the soil. To carry out the potential usefulness of chestnut blossoms, this extensive study was designed and it got out some remarkable results. In addition to the phenolic capacity and antioxidant capacity of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of dried chestnut flowers, the anti-urease activity of these extracts was studied to demonstrate their therapeutic value. The binding interaction of the phenolic substances present in chestnut blossom with urease was shown using molecular docking research. The aqueous extract had total phenolic content of 45 mg GAE/g, and total flavonoid content of 6 mg QUE/g, also rutin was found as the dominant compound by HPLC. IC50 values of urease of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts were 2.55 mg/mL and 4.45 mg/mL, respectively. According to the docking experiments which were important for supporting the idea of anti-urease activity, myricetin and luteolin showed different and effective bounding degrees to the target protein when compared with the reference molecule acetohydroxamic acid. In summary, chestnut flowers are closely rich in phenolic compounds which are responsible for a wide range of biological activities such as antioxidants and urease inhibition, and these blossoms could be evaluated as important potential raw materials for the food.