Phytochemical investigation, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of Tunisian medicinal Tamarix africana Poir

ABSTRACT

The current study aimed to evaluate Tunisian Tamarix africana Poir biological activities. In this study, novel biological activities of the shoot extracts related to their phenolics investigated. Secondary metabolite contents, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of four extracts (hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water) were investigated. Antioxidant activities were assessed via in vitro and ex vivo assays. Besides, anticancer activity was investigated against human lung carcinoma (A-549) and colon adenocarcinoma (DLD-1) cells. The anti-inflammatory ability was evaluated via inhibition of LPS-induced NO production in RAW 264.7 macrophage cell lines. Methanol and water extracts displayed the highest antioxidant (IC₅₀ = 3.3 and 4.3 µg/mL respectively), which are correlated activities correlated with phenolic contents. Hexane extract exhibited an important anti-inflammatory effect inhibiting NO ability by 100% at 80 µg/mL. Besides, T. africana extracts were found to be active against A-549 lung carcinoma cells with IC₅₀ values ranging from 20 to 34 µg/mL. These results suggested that T. africana is considered as a potential source of readily accessible natural molecules with a promising effect on human health and diseases.

KEYWORDS:

• Tamarix africana
• secondary metabolites
• antioxidant activity
• anti-inflammatory potentiality
• anticancer activity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Vakhtang Mshvildadze for his help and suggestions. We are grateful to Catherine Dussault and Karl Girard-Lalancette for their help in biological assays.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology. [LR02CB02]