Cytotoxic, Anti-bacterial, and Wound-healing Activity of Prenylated Phenols from the Kurdish Traditional Medicinal Plant Onobrychis Carduchorum (Fabaceae)

Abstract

Onobrychis carduchorum (Fabaceae) is a plant widely employed in Kurdish traditional medicine to cure wounds, inflammations, and other skin diseases. We could isolate ten different polyphenols from the acetone extract of this plant: 1–4 are isoflavones, having a genistein skeleton; 5–7 are flavanones, having a naringenin skeleton; and 8–10 are prenylated dihydro-stilbenes. In particular, 8–10 have been isolated, so far, only from Glycyrrhiza glabra (liquorice). Many of the above prenylated phenols showed significant toxicity on some human breast cancer cell lines, and a relevant growth inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus strains. In addition, 9 and 10 had marked wound healing activity. It is suggested that these bioactivities are responsible, at least partly, for the plant’s traditional use.