Antioxidant, anticancer activities, and HPLC-DAD analyses of the medicinal halophyte Limoniastrum guyonianum Dur. extracts

Although notable medicinal value and biological activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, antimicrobial and antifungal of Limoniastrum guyonianum have been reported, identification and quantification of phytoconstituents of CHCl3, EtOAC, and n-BuOH extracts from the aerial parts of the halophyte medicinal plant from Algerian Sahara was not well investigated for biological and anticancer activity in spite of their great interest. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and anticancer activities of L. guyonianum. The phytoconstituents of CHCl3, EtOAC, and n-BuOH extracts were screened using HPLC-DAD. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were quantified, antioxidant activity, using DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS+° decolorization, cupric reducing power, and anticancer activity against human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cell line were investigated and quantified. The results showed the presence of chlorogenic, gallic, syringic, p-coumaric, trans ferulic, o-coumaric acids, and quercetin in significant varying quantities. Chlorogenic acid was present in the greatest quantity (344.027–422.711mg/g of extract) as well as quercetin in CHCl3 extract. It is important to note the absence of caffeic acid and o-coumaric acid from EtOAc and CHCl3 extracts, respectively. The content of phenolic and flavonoid were higher in EtOAc extract (934±4,38mgGAE and 218.33±6.36mgQE/gof extract), respectively. EtOAc extract possesses a strong antioxidant effect in vitro, while the CHCl3 extract proved to be the most active againstHeLa cell lines (IC50= 50.369±0.020μg/ml). The findings in this studydemostrate the potential use of these compounds in medicine and importance of this species, which have largely been used in folk medicine for several diseases’ treatment.