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    <journal-meta>
      <journal-title-group><journal-title>Journal of Biological and Sustainability Sciences</journal-title></journal-title-group>
      <publisher><publisher-name>BIOSUSS Publishing</publisher-name></publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">y254h5g3a3e2jc0ck0cyp9qr</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5281/zenodo.21530282</article-id>
      <article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Research Article</subject></subj-group></article-categories>
      <title-group><article-title>Solvent-Dependent Butyrylcholinesterase Inhibition and Antioxidant Activity of Cucurbitaceous Seed Extracts and Hydrocotyle asiatica</article-title></title-group>
      <contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><string-name>Sankara Narayanan Senthilkumar</string-name></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><string-name>Mohamed Isthiyak M</string-name></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><string-name>Bilqees Fatima</string-name></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><string-name>Balaji Nagarajan</string-name></contrib></contrib-group>
      <aff id="aff1">Post Graduate Department of Biotechnology, Microbiology &amp; Bioinformatics, National College, Tiruchirapalli-620001, Tamil Nadu, India Department of Biochemistry, Minhaj University, Lahore, Pakistan</aff>
      <author-notes><corresp>Balaji Nagarajan</corresp></author-notes>
      <pub-date date-type="pub" publication-format="electronic" iso-8601-date="2025-08-17"><day>17</day><month>08</month><year>2025</year></pub-date>
      
      <volume>1</volume>
      <issue>1</issue>
      <fpage>24</fpage>
      <lpage>33</lpage>
      <permissions>
        <copyright-statement>Copyright © 2025 the authors</copyright-statement>
        <license license-type="open-access" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
          <license-p>This article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain copyright.</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract><p>Background: Oxidative stress and impaired cholinergic neurotransmission are central features of Alzheimer’s disease. Plant-derived inhibitors of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) may provide useful leads for neuroprotective research. Objective: To compare the influence of plant species and extraction-solvent polarity on the BChE inhibitory and DPPH radical-scavenging activities of cucurbitaceous seed extracts and Hydrocotyle asiatica. Methods: Seeds of Cucurbita maxima, Cucumis melo, Cucumis sativus, and Citrullus lanatus, together with whole-plant material of H. asiatica, were sequentially extracted with petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol. BChE inhibition and DPPH scavenging were evaluated in triplicate at 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/mL, using galantamine and ascorbic acid as reference compounds. Results: The methanolic extract of C. lanatus was reported to inhibit BChE by 81.19% at 1.0 mg/mL (IC50 = 98 µg/mL). The ethyl acetate extract of C. maxima produced 81.77% inhibition, whereas the chloroform extract of H. asiatica reached 88.88% inhibition at 1.0 mg/mL. In the DPPH assay, the chloroform extract of C. sativus showed the strongest seed-derived activity (63.78% at 1.0 mg/mL; IC50 = 642 µg/mL), followed by the ethyl acetate extract of C. lanatus (IC50 = 708 µg/mL). Conclusion: Bioactivity depended strongly on both species and solvent. The most active fractions warrant bioassay-guided isolation, mechanistic enzyme-kinetic studies, and in vivo validation; the present findings should be interpreted as preliminary in vitro evidence rather than proof of therapeutic efficacy.</p></abstract>
      <kwd-group kwd-group-type="author-generated"><kwd>Alzheimer’s disease</kwd><kwd>butyrylcholinesterase</kwd><kwd>DPPH</kwd><kwd>cucurbitaceous seeds</kwd><kwd>solvent polarity</kwd><kwd>Hydrocotyle asiatica</kwd></kwd-group>
      <custom-meta-group><custom-meta><meta-name>funding-statement</meta-name><meta-value>This research received no external funding.</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>conflict-of-interest</meta-name><meta-value>The authors declare no conflict of interest.</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>ethics-approval</meta-name><meta-value>Not applicable.</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>data-availability</meta-name><meta-value>The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The raw data are securely maintained by the Post Graduate Department of Biotechnology, Microbiology &amp; Bioinformatics, National College, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India, and will be made available in accordance with institutional policies.</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>author-contributions</meta-name><meta-value>Sankara Narayanan Senthilkumar: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – Original Draft. Mohamed Isthiyak M: Investigation, Validation, Data curation, Writing – Review &amp; Editing. Bilqees Fatima: Literature review, Visualization, Writing – Review &amp; Editing. Balaji Nagarajan: Conceptualization, Supervision, Project administration, Resources, Writing – Review &amp; Editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript, including the revised title, text, figures, declarations, and authorship order.</meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-group>
    </article-meta>
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