Context: Despite several pharmacological applications
of the medicinal plants in the Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine
in Palestine (TAPHM), studies on their antioxidant properties are still scarce.
Objective: This work evaluates the antioxidant and antitumor activities
of the ethanol extracts from different parts of six plants: [Arum
palaestinum Boiss (Araceae), Urtica pilulifera L. (Urticaceae),
Coridothymus capitatus (L.) Reichb (Lamiaceae), Majorana syriaca
(L.) Rafin. (Lamiaceae), Teucrium creticum L. (Lamiaceae), and Teucrium
capitatum L. (Lamiaceae)] used in the TAPHM.
Materials and methods: The antioxidant activity was evaluated for the
ethanol extracts by DPPH and β-carotene–linoleic acid assays together with
total contents of phenols and flavonoids. For the anti-carcinogenic evaluation,
the extracts were tested for the ability to inhibit the proliferation of breast
cancer cells (MCF-7) using the MTT reduction assay.
Results: Among the extracts, the U. pilulifera had the highest
amount of total phenolics, possessing the second highest total flavonoids. It
also showed a maximum cytotoxic activity (IC50 = 63 µg/ml), followed
by C. capitatus, and A. palaestinum. Otherwise, the extract of T.
creticum was demonstrated to be an efficient scavenger of O2 (IC50 = 83 µg/ml),
followed by M. syriaca, C. capitatus, T. capitatum, A. palaestinum, and U.
pilulifera.
Discussion and conclusion: The results suggest that the investigated
plants have shown varied antioxidant capacities which were strongly correlated
with their contents of phenolics. Accordingly, this study proposes that the
therapeutic benefit of these plants can be, at least in part, attributed to its
potential inhibition of oxidative processes.
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