Chemical Composition and the Anticancer, Antimicrobial, and Antioxidant Properties of Acacia Honey from the Hail Region: The in vitro and in silico Investigation

Walid Sabri Hamadou; Nouha Bouali; Riadh Badraoui; Ramzi Hadj Lajimi; Assia Hamdi; Mousa Alreshidi; Mitesh Patel; Mohd Adnan; Arif Jamal Siddiqui; Emira Noumi; Visweswara Rao Pasupuleti; Mejdi Snoussi

doi:10.1155/2022/1518511

Chemical Composition and the Anticancer, Antimicrobial, and Antioxidant Properties of Acacia Honey from the Hail Region: The in vitro and in silico Investigation

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Aug 4:2022:1518511. doi: 10.1155/2022/1518511. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Walid Sabri Hamadou¹, Nouha Bouali¹, Riadh Badraoui^{1

2

3}, Ramzi Hadj Lajimi^{4

5}, Assia Hamdi⁶, Mousa Alreshidi^{1

7}, Mitesh Patel⁸, Mohd Adnan¹, Arif Jamal Siddiqui¹, Emira Noumi^{1

9}, Visweswara Rao Pasupuleti^{10

11}, Mejdi Snoussi^{1

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Hail, P.O. Box 2440, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia.
² Section of Histology Cytology, Medicine Faculty of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, La Rabta 1007, Road Djebal Lakhdhar, Tunis 1007, Tunisia.
³ Department of Histo-Embryology and Cytogenetics, Medicine Faculty of Sfax, University of Sfax, Road of Majida Boulia, Sfax 3029, Tunisia.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Ha'il, P.O. Box 2440, Ha'il 81441, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Laboratory of Water, Membranes and Environmental Biotechnologies, Center of Researches and Water Technologies, P.O. Box 273, Soliman 8020, Tunisia.
⁶ Laboratoire de Développement Chimique Galénique et Pharmacologique des Médicaments, Faculté de Pharmacie, Monastir 5000, Tunisia.
⁷ Molecular Diagnostic and Personalized Therapeutics Unit, University of Ha'il, Ha'il 2440, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Biotechnology, Parul Institute of Applied Sciences and Centre of Research for Development, Parul University, Vadodara 391760, Gujarat, India.
⁹ Laboratory of Bioresources: Integrative Biology and Recovery, High Institute of Biotechnology University of Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisia.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedical Sciences and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 44800, Malaysia.
¹¹ Centre for International Collaboration and Research, Reva University, Rukmini Knowledge Park, Kattigenahalli, Yelahanka, Bangalore, Karnataka 560064, India.
¹² Laboratory of Genetics, Biodiversity and Valorisation of Bioresources, High Institute of Biotechnology University of Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisia.

Abstract

In consideration of the emergence of novel drug-resistant microbial strains and the increase in the incidences of various cancers throughout the world, honey could be utilized as a great alternative source of potent bioactive compounds. In this context, this study pioneers in reporting the phytochemical profiling and the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer properties of Acacia honey (AH) from the Hail region of Saudi Arabia, assessed using in vitro and molecular docking approaches. The phytochemical profiling based on high-resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HR-LCMS) revealed eight compounds and three small peptide-like proteins as the constituents. The honey samples exhibited promising antioxidant activities (DPPH-IC₅₀ = 0.670 mg/mL; ABTS-IC₅₀ = 1.056 mg/mL; β-carotene-IC₅₀ > 5 mg/mL). In the well-diffusion assay, a high mean growth inhibition zone (mGIZ) was observed against Staphylococcus aureus (48.33 ± 1.53 mm), Escherichia coli ATCC 10536 (38.33 ± 1.53 mm), and Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228 (39.33 ± 1.15 mm). The microdilution assay revealed that low concentrations of AH could inhibit the growth of almost all the evaluated bacterial and fungal strains, with the minimal bactericidal concentration values (MBCs) ranging from 75 mg/mL to 300 mg/mL. On the contrary, high AH concentrations were required to kill the tested microorganisms, with the minimal bactericidal concentration values (MBCs) ranging from approximately 300 mg/mL to over 600 mg/mL and the minimal fungicidal concentration values (MFCs) of approximately 600 mg/mL. The AH exhibited effective anticancer activity in a dose-dependent manner against breast (MCF-7), colon (HCT-116), and lung (A549) cancer cell lines, with the corresponding IC₅₀ values of 5.053 μg/mL, 5.382 μg/mL, and 6.728 μg/mL, respectively. The in silico investigation revealed that the observed antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities of the constituent compounds of AH are thermodynamically feasible, particularly those of the tripeptides (Asp-Trp-His and Trp-Arg-Ala) and aminocyclitol glycoside. The overall results highlighted the potential of AH as a source of bioactive compounds with significant antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities, which could imply further pharmacological applications of AH.