In vitro antioxidant and antitumor activities of six selected plants used in the Traditional Arabic Palestinian herbal medicine

Figures & data

Table 1. List of plants screened.

Plant	Family	Part tested	Traditional uses
Arum palaestinum Boiss	Araceae	Leaf	Cure several chronic diseases such as stomach acidity, atherosclerosis, cancer, and diabetes and food toxicity
Coridothymus capitatus (L.) Reichb	Lamiaceae	Arial part	Antimicrobial activities, cosmetics, flavoring and pharmaceutical industries, as refreshing drink or in cooking, against cold, influenza and throat infection, antiseptic and antimicrobial agents
Majorana syriaca (L.) Rafin.	Lamiaceae	Arial part	Flavor and fragrance, strong biological activity
Teucrium creticum L.	Lamiaceae	Arial part	Antidiabetic
Teucrium capitatum L. (T. polium L.)	Lamiaceae	Arial part	Diuretic, antipyretic, diaphoretic, antispasmodic, tonic, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, anorexic, analgesic, antibacterial and antidiabetic effects
Urtica pilulifera L.	Urticaceae	Arial part	Cure for rheumatism, hemorrhage. Diuretic, depurative. Seeds are used for renal stones and inflammation of the bladder, diuretic, and aphrodisiac. Diabetes mellitus and other ailments

Figure 1. Percent inhibition of selected plants at different concentrations.

Figure 2. Free radical scavenging capacities IC₅₀ of ethanolic extracts.

Figure 3. Antioxidant activities of ethanolic extracts of the plants (A. palaestinum, U. pilulifera, C. capitatus, M. syriaca, T. creticum, and T. capitatum), and α-tocopherol, as assessed by β-carotene-linoleic acid assay over 120 min.

Figure 4. β-Carotene bleaching percentages of plant extracts and tocopherol determined by β-carotene bleaching test.

Table 2. Total phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts of selected plants.

Plant	TP* µg (PE) mg^−1	TF^$ µg (QE) mg^−1	TP + TF	DPPH assay at 200 µg/ml	β-Carotene assay at 200 µg/ml
A. palaestinum	3.9	270	273.9	40	11
C. capitatus	103.5	160.2	263.7	54	15
M. syriaca	37.3	146.4	183.7	53	19
T. creticum	35.2	154.2	189.4	66	13
T. capitatum	30.8	203.5	234.3	43	16
U. pilulifera	120.6	213	333.6	15	−8

*Total phenols.

$Total flavonoids.

Figure 5. Cytotoxic effects of the extracts in the MTT assay on breast cancer cells (MFC-7).