First Report on the Phytochemical and Pharmacological Properties of Hedysarum yilmazunalii

This study presents the phytochemical and biological evaluation of the species Hedysarum yilmazunalii Kandemir, F. Yıldız & H.İ. Turkoğlu. Methanolic extracts from leaves, stems, and roots were characterized by LC-MS/MS, and their antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, and antiproliferative activities were investigated. The analyses showed organ-specific differences in phenolic composition, with quinic acid as the major compound in leaves together with higher levels of flavonoid glycosides, including astragalin and isoquercitrin. Aerial extracts showed strong enzyme inhibitory activity. Leaf and stem extracts exhibited cholinesterase inhibition, with IC₅₀ values of 5.82 and 6.42 µg/mL for AChE and 5.41 and 5.50 µg/mL for BChE, respectively. The leaf extract showed α-glucosidase inhibitory activity (4.10 µg/mL), comparable to acarbose, and antioxidant activity (DPPH: 6.46 µg/mL), together with the highest phenolic (145.43 mg GAE/g extract) and flavonoid contents (87.20 mg QE/g extract). Antiproliferative assays demonstrated growth inhibition of lung and breast cancer cell lines, with the lowest GI₅₀ values of 1.00 µg/mL for H1650 and 2.34 µg/mL for MDA-MB-231 cells. LDH cytotoxicity remained low (2.25%-12.59%), indicating limited membrane damage in both cancer and normal cells. These findings identify H. yilmazunalii as a source of compounds with antioxidant, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, and anticancer potential.