Comparative assessment of biological activities of different parts of halophytic plant Tamarix articulata (T. articulata) growing in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Owing to extremely high salinity and harsh environmental conditions, T. articulata is one of the most abundant wild plants growing in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. Such plants may contain novel compounds to display promising biological activities. Here, in this study, we evaluate the biological activities of methanolic extracts of fresh leaves, dry leaves, stem, and roots of T. articulata. The antioxidant activity was determined by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and total phenolic and flavonoid content were determined using standard colorimetric methods. Whereas antimicrobial and ant-proliferative activities were determined by standard well-diffusion and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) methods, respectively. Our results demonstrate that all methanolic extracts of T. articulata showed antioxidant activity, however, the methanolic extract of dry leaves exhibits promising antioxidant effect with IC₅₀ value 49.08 ± 1.98, which was strongly supported by total phenolic (409.92 ± 6.03 mg GAE/g DW) and flavonoid (177.71 mg QE/g DW) content. Although, antimicrobial activity was also exhibited by all the methanolic extracts, however, methanolic extract of dry leaves exhibits promising antimicrobial activity in Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus epidemidis. Furthermore , MTT assay revealed that all methanolic extracts exhibit antiproliferative activity in MCF-7 (breast cancer) and RKO (colorectal cancer) cells with IC₅₀ values ranges from 219 ± 5.112 µg/ml to 253 ± 5.231 µg/ml and 220 ± 4.330 µg/ml to 325 ± 6.213 µg/ml, respectively. However, the most promising antiproliferative effect was displayed by methanolic extract of dry leaves with IC₅₀ values 219 ± 5.112 µg/ml and 220 ± 4.330 µg/ml, respectively . In summary, these findings provide evidence that T. articulata has promising biological activities and can be used for many pharmaceutical activities in the future.

Tamarix Articulata Exhibits Antiproliferative and Antimetastatic Activity by Modulating PI3K-Akt and TGF-β-Mediated Downstream Signaling in Prostate Cancer Cells

“…Consistent with the preliminary reports, our group also revealed that the methanolic extract of TA demonstrates promising antiproliferative activity against breast and colorectal cancer cells [18]. However, no data is yet available for the antimetastatic activity of TA extract.…”

“…Caryophyllales, family: Tamaricaceae, genus: Tamarix and species: Tamarix articulata was collected in August 2019 from the deserts of Qassim province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A methanolic extract derived from the dry leaves was prepared as per the standard protocol published in our previous work [18]. After collection, the TA parts were rst air-dried in the shade to remove the moisture completely.…”

“…Plant metabolites from TA were extracted as decried by previously published work [18]. Brie y, 50 mg of plant material was weighed into an Eppendorf tube and 1 ml of methanol was added, vortexed for 30 s, then centrifuged for 15 min at 5000 rpm.…”

Tamarix articulata Extracts Exhibit Antioxidant Activity and Offer Protection against Hydrogen Peroxide-Mediated Toxicity to Human Skin Fibroblasts

“…Extracts of all parts of TA were formulated by the standard protocol mentioned in our previous article [ 24 , 25 ]. All the parts (fresh leaves, dry leaves collected from the floor, stem, and root) were first air-dried in the shade to remove moisture completely.…”

“…After being chopped into small pieces, all parts of TA were ground in a kitchen blender to produce a fine powder. After weighing 12 g of powder of each part of TA, the power was added to 300 mL of 100% methanol and stirred constantly for 5 days at room temperature [ 24 ]. The mixture obtained after stirring was filtered through a cheesecloth to remove the bulk followed by filtering through a Whatman filter paper in an autoclaved glass beaker.…”