Phytochemical Content of Malus floribunda: In Vitro and Molecular Docking Studies

Malus floribunda Siebold ex Van Houtte is a plant planted for landscaping, and its sour and red fruits have been seen to be frequently used in the treatment of diabetes, making vinegar marmalade, and producing natural food dyes. Apart from these usage areas of this plant, it is aimed at determining the phytochemical content. For this purpose, plant parts (fruit, leaf, and branch) were examined. The antioxidant capacity (vitamins A, E, and C, lycopene, beta-carotene, total phenolic and flavonoid amounts, and DPPH radical scavenging effect), antimicrobial activity (agar well diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration-MIC), and GC-MS contents of plant parts were determined. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), spectrophotometers, and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) methods were used in the study. It was determined that M. floribunda fruit is rich in lycopene, beta-carotene, and antioxidant vitamins and contains many biomolecules. In addition, it was concluded that the extracts of different parts of the plant have antimicrobial activity. This study has revealed the idea that this plant, whose phytochemical, antioxidant, and antimicrobial content has been determined, can be used as a bioactive substance equivalent to antibiotics in medicine, the food industry, and human nutrition. In addition, it is expected that the study will contribute to the plant literature. Molecular docking studies were performed to evaluate the binding interactions between the compound and human peroxiredoxin 5 and S. aureus. Both in vitro and in silico results indicated that synthesized extracts could act as potent antioxidant and antimicrobial agents.