Antioxidant, Antibacterial Activities and General Toxicity of Alnus glutinosa, Fraxinus excelsior and Papaver rhoeas

authors:

avatar Patricia Middleton 1 , avatar Fiona Stewart 1 , avatar Salem Al-Qahtani 1 , avatar Paula Egan 1 , avatar Ciara O’Rourke 1 , avatar Aysha Abdulrahman 1 , avatar Maureen Byres 1 , avatar Moira Middleton 1 , avatar Yashodharan Kumarasamy 1 , avatar Mohammad Shoeb 2 , avatar Lutfun Nahar 2 , avatar Abbas Delazar 3 , avatar Satyajit Dey Sarker 4 , *

School of Pharmacy, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
School of Life Sciences, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
School of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK
Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research: Vol.4, issue 2; 81-86
published online: November 20, 2010
article type: Research Article
received: May 20, 2004
accepted: February 20, 2005
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22037/ijpr.2010.620

how to cite: Middleton P, Stewart F, Al-Qahtani S, Egan P, O’Rourke C, et al. Antioxidant, Antibacterial Activities and General Toxicity of Alnus glutinosa, Fraxinus excelsior and Papaver rhoeas. Iran J Pharm Res. 2005;4(2):e128229. https://doi.org/10.22037/ijpr.2010.620.

Abstract

Alnus glutinosa, Fraxinus excelsior and Papaver rhoeas have long been used in folkloric medicine for the treatment of various ailments. As part of our continuing screening of plant extracts for activities, the extracts of A. glutinosa, F. excelsior and P. rhoeas have been screened for their antioxidant and antibacterial activities, as well as their general toxicity towards brine shrimps. Among the extracts, the methanol (MeOH) extract of F. excelsior displayed the highest level of antioxidant activity (RC50=1.35x10-2 mg/mL) and the dichloromethane (DCM) extract of P. rhoeas was the most toxic extract towards brine shrimps (LD50=2.4x10-2 mg/mL). The n-hexane and DCM extracts of F. excelsior and the MeOH extract of A. glutinosa were active (MIC values were within 1.25x10-1 and 1.00 mg/mL) against all 8 bacterial species tested, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).