Antioxidant, Antiproliferative and Antibacterial Activity of Phoradendron californicum Extracts; a Parasitic Plant from Northwestern Mexico

Abstract

Phoradendron californicum is a plant native of northwestern Mexico that has been used as a therapeutic alternative. In the present study, methanolic and chloroformic extracts of P. californicum were prepared and evaluated for their antioxidant activities, phenolic and flavonoid content, as well as their antiproliferative activity in cancer cells and antibacterial activity. The methanolic extract presented higher antioxidant activity (IC50: 47.62 ± 2.90 μg/mL) and higher total phenol content (186.45 ± 4.58 μg/mL) compared to the chloroformic extract (IC50: ˃400 ug/mL and 13.54 ± 1.57 μg/mL, respectively), both extracts presented similar content of total flavonoids (19.92 ± 1.84 and 25.55 ± 0.73 μg/mL, respectively). On the other hand, the chloroformic extract presented higher antiproliferative activity in the cell lines evaluated (HeLa, PC3 and L929) compared to the methanolic extract, meanwhile, in the antibacterial activity the chloroformic extract presented higher activity against Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes, while the methanolic extract was more active against Salmonella enterica. The clear difference in the biological activities of both extracts may be due to differences in the chemical composition of each due to the extraction method used. P. californicum has potential for the search of new compounds with biological activity