Abstract:
The methanolic extract of the aerial part of two Libyan medicinal plants Arbutus pavarii. Pampan (Ericaceae) and Sarcopoterium spinosium. L. (Rosaceae) growing in El-Jabal Al Akhdar area were studied for their phenolic and flavonoid content, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activitie. Total polyphenol contents ranged from 61.7±2.7to 163.6±0.85 μg gallic acid equivalent / g (A. pavarii Pampan and S. spinosium. L.) and total flavonoid contents ranged from 126.9±2.98 to 206.1±1.09 μg rutin equivalent (A. pavarii Pampan and S. spinosium L.). Qualitative and quantitative analysis of major phenolic and flavonoids in the extracts were conducted by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Finally, antimicrobial activities of the two plants were measured using the disc diffusion method. While, cytotoxic properties were tested against the HEPG2 and T47D cell lines. Arbutus pavarii extract proved to be the most cytotoxic extract in this study with IC50 19.7±2.8 and 19±0.65 (μg/ml) on HEPG2 and T47D respectively.