The aim of this study was to investigate the polyphenolic profile and biological properties of leaves acetonic extracts from six Tunisian spontaneous plants of Marrubium vulgare L., Rhus tripartita (Ucria) D.C., Hernaria fontanesii J. Gay subsp. fontanesii, Ziziphus lotus L., Plantago ovata Forsk., Thymelaea hirsuta (L.) Endl. Bioassay-guided and HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS procedures demonstrated that R. tripartita contained the highest amount of phenolic compounds (1475.1 µg/g), followed by Z. lotus (1087.8 µg/g) and P. ovata (1027.6 µg/g). Interestingly, in R. tripartita myricetin-3-O-galactoside turned out to be the most abundant one. The plant extracts showed antimicrobial efficacy against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis including methicillin resistant strains; no activity was detected against Gram-negative bacteria. R. tripartita revealed the best MIC and MBC values and caused significant decrease of S. aureus biofilm. Both R. tripartita and Z. lotus did not display any toxicity against Artemia salina Leach (LC50 > 1000 μg/mL).
Keywords: Artemia salina lethality bioassay; HPLC; Tunisian plant extracts; antibacterial activity; biofilm; phenolic compounds.