Anticancer, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of extracts from Scrophularia striata and Elaeagnus angustifolia, growing in Ilam and Kurdistan provinces in Iran

Abstract

Emerging evidence of the impact of plant compounds on growth inhibition of micropathogens and cancer cells has opened new areas to evaluate plants’ treatment properties. Here, we aimed to investigate in vitro antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer effects of the secondary metabolites isolated from different extracts produced by Elaeagnus angustifolia and Scrophularia striata. Antibacterial activity was evaluated against human and plant pathogenic bacteria by 3 methods of tubular dilution, well and disc diffusion. The anticancer effect of E. angustifolia extract was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Biochemical experiments showed the presence of compounds such as phenol, flavonoids, resins, quinones, steroids, terpenoids and alkaloids in extracts, with the highest antioxidant activity of the methanolic extracts. For both plants’ strains, the disc method was more effective than the well diffusion method. The highest yields were obtained from Methanolic, ethanolic and hydroalcoholic extracts for E. angustifolia and aqueous extract for Scrophularia striata. The most sensitive bacteria for E. angustifolia were Bacillus subtilis and Xanthomonas campestris against pit extracts and Clavibacter michiganensis against pulp extracts. The most sensitive bacteria for S. striata were Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Methanolic and aqueous solvents showed the maximum bacterial inhibitory and bactericidal activities in the Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) tests respectively. Additionally, E. angustifolia showed anticancer effects toward MCF7 breast cancer cells. These findings provided a better understanding of the widespread application of these plants as potential antioxidants, antibacterial and anticancer sources, and safe natural medicines in health maintenance and disease treatment.