Phytochemical analysis, anticancer screening and antimicrobial activity of Ballota undulata Fresen (Benth.) from Al-Baha region Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Plants of medicinal value play vital roles in prevention of disease and their use and promotion is fitting into all current prevention strategies. Nevertheless, diligent effort is required to properly identify, recognize and locate medicinal plants in the design and implementation of these strategies. The medicinal plant Ballota undulata Fresen (Benth.) that belonging to family Lamiaceae has been reported to exhibit antispasmodic, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. In this context, this work aimed to assess the biological activity of its three different extracts (chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol) as antitumor against different cancer cell lines as hepatocellular (HEPG-2) carcinoma, breast (MCF-7) carcinoma and colon (HCT-116) carcinoma cell lines. Further determine its activity as antimicrobial against a diverse human pathogen (five Gram negative bacteria, two Gram positive bacteria and yeast) and its chemical composition using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis and HPLC. Our results showed that the different extracts of B. undulata have antitumor activity against tested cell lines. In addition, the chloroform and methanol extracts showed marked antimicrobial activity against the tested strains. Furthermore, the percentage of the MIC activity of B. undulata methanolic extract can help as sources for treatment compounds assay. So, this results of B. undulata shed the light on the antimicrobial ability of extracts from Saudi Arabia medicinal flora, which can be used as antimicrobial natural agents in pharmaceutical drugs and food preservation strategy.