Antimicrobial and Anti-Breast Cancer Activity of Hawthorn Extracts

Abstract

The existence  of many active components in plants, including flavonoids, make the herbal medicine an effective treatment for many diseases that are resistant to conventional medicine. Flavonoids, a diverse class of naturally occurring chemicals, have received substantial research due to their potent biological effects. Hawthorn (Crataegus) is an extensively utilized plant by many populations worldwide due to its varied medical benefits. The study looks at  the  antimicrobial and anti-breast cancer (Mcf7)  properties of flavonoid extracts  isolated from leaves, fruit  and seed of hawthorn. The activity of the extracts was evaluated for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida tropical using agar well diffusion assay. Based on the findings, the extracts recorded a good  activity towards the selected microorganisms  in   concentration 0.03 g /mL and the bacteria strains were more sensitive to the flavonoid extracts with inhibition zones ranged between (20-27mm) than fungus strain which recorded (0-15mm). The activity against Mcf7 cell line by MTT assay exhibited that  the flavonoid extract of fruit was more effective in inhibiting breast cancer  in concentration  (1000)µg/mL  with activity 37.90% compared to other flavonoid extracts. Therefore, according to the results and after requiring in vivo experiments, hawthorn flavonoid extracts can be used as antibiotics and anti-breast cancer agents