Screening the chemical constituents and studying the biological activities of Ruta graveolens L

Ruta graveolens L. has been utilised for millennia in both traditional medicine and culinary applications. Although Ruta graveolens L. has been extensively studied, advances in modern analytical techniques—with their significantly improved sensitivity—now enable the identification of additional, potentially bioactive compounds. In this study, extracts of root, leaf, and inflorescence of Ruta graveolens L. were studied by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry operated in both positive and negative ion mode to characterise their chemical composition. Almost 90 derivatives were identified, including several previously not reported ones such as 1-methyl-2-heptyl-4(1H)-quinolinone. The total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, antioxidant and enzyme inhibition activities were also determined for root, leaf, and inflorescence. It was found that the root showed the highest total phenolic content and antioxidant activity values, while the total flavonoid content and enzyme inhibition activity were obtained to be highest for leaf and inflorescence, respectively.