## 1 Introduction  
In drug discovery, screening for potential bio-active structures is often started with natural product extracts. The present work reflects the preliminary study carried out with extracts of an invasive plant, _Acacia dealbeta_ L., which may be used in a win-win relationship, that is, as a raw material to supply bioactive molecules, while the harvest itself will contribute to controlling its invasiveness by decreasing the proliferation of this plant. Among the possible bioactivities to explore that are believed to be linked to the compounds expected to be in the Acacia extracts we chose, the acetylcholinesterasecholinesterasesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) can be explored further for the treatment of dementia symptoms [1] or even to delay the disease. The current extracts used to slow the progression of many of these pathologies still have modest outcomes. Acacia species are aggressive invaders that affect ecosystem integrity worldwide [2]. _Acacia dealbeta_ Link is considered to be one of the most aggressive in Portugal. These plants are distributed throughout all Portuguese provinces [3; 4; 5] and may invade farmland and autochthonous forests, establishing monocultures, modifying the ecosystem structure and impacting the economy. Their flowers play a key role in the colonizing capacity, limiting the growth of other species due to the allopathic interference caused by vegetal material decomposition in the soil, which maintains the toxicity of soil percolates for a long time [6]. Extracts from the flowers are already explored as hydrogels for personal care products, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, as well as perfumes based on their antiradical and anti-proliferative potential [7]. Along with this research, other possibilities were explored based on previous studies on ethanol extracts of leaves and flowers of Acacia species that suggested the presence of secondary metabolites, such as coumarins, cyanogenic glycosides, tannins, alkaloids and steroids [8]. Notwithstanding, this genus is recognized as a source of phenolic compounds [9; 10; 11], with flavonoids being the predominant chemical group [12]. In the study performed by [PERSON] et al. [13] on the leaves, flowers and pods of _A. seyal_, _A. nilotica_ and _A. laeta_, the antioxidant activity was promising. Furthermore, according to [PERSON] et al. [14], _A. tortilis_ extracts exhibited various biological activities and their phenolic compounds were studied for the development of cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory drugs. Antimicrobial activity was also identified in several Acacia species against _Escherichia coli_, _Staphylococcus aureus_ and _Salmonella typhi_ bacteria and the fungal strain _Candida albicans_ and _Aspergillus niger_[15; 16; 17]. According to the aforementioned studies, the bark and pods contain secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins and tannins, which may contribute to the bioactivities. Among the most relevant potential applications in health, the inhibitory activities of the enzymes \(\alpha\)-glucosidase, acetylcholinesterase-release and lipase will have an important impact on the development of new drugs. For instance, lipases, which are present in pancreatic secretions and are responsible for fat digestion, are able to break down triglycerides into free fatty acids and glycerol. Acetylcholinesteraseerase inhibitors are relevant for Alzheimer's disease treatment strategies. For the possible applications cited above, especially regarding the antioxidant potential, the need to screen new molecules for the development of, for example, new drugs for dementia-related diseases, and the need to use a crude material that will leave a low environmental impact, are all good reasons to explore _A. dealbeta_ flowers. This reflection leads to the goal of the present work, which consisted of obtaining more robust data for possible future research using selected assays to evaluate the inhibitory activities of the enzymes acetylcholinesterase-release, \(\alpha\)-glucosidase and lipase.