Antifungal, Antitumoral and Antioxidant Potential of the Danube Delta Nymphaea alba Extracts

Mihaela Cudalbeanu; Bianca Furdui; Geta Cârâc; Vasilica Barbu; Alina Viorica Iancu; Fernanda Marques; Jorge Humberto Leitão; Sílvia Andreia Sousa; Rodica Mihaela Dinica

doi:10.3390/antibiotics9010007

Antifungal, Antitumoral and Antioxidant Potential of the Danube Delta Nymphaea alba Extracts

Antibiotics (Basel). 2019 Dec 21;9(1):7. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics9010007.

Authors

Mihaela Cudalbeanu¹, Bianca Furdui¹, Geta Cârâc¹, Vasilica Barbu², Alina Viorica Iancu³, Fernanda Marques⁴, Jorge Humberto Leitão⁵, Sílvia Andreia Sousa⁵, Rodica Mihaela Dinica¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Sciences and Environment, Department of Chemistry Physical and Environment, "Dunărea de Jos" University of Galati, 111 Domnească Street, 800201 Galati, Romania.
² Faculty of Food Science and Engineering, Department of Food Science, Food Engineering, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, ''Dunărea de Jos" University of Galati, 111 Domnească Street, 800201 Galati, Romania.
³ Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Morphological and Functional Sciences, ''Dunărea de Jos" University of Galati, 800008 Romania, 47 Domnească Street, 8000008 Galati, Romania.
⁴ Departamento de Engenharia e Ciências Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal.
⁵ IBB-Institute of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore for the first time the biological properties such as antifungal, antitumoral and antioxidant of Danube Delta Nymphaea alba (N. alba) leaf and root methanolic extracts. The toxicity studies of N. alba extracts showed no inhibitory effect on wheat seed germination by evaluating the most sensitive physiological parameters (Germination %, Germination index, Vigor index) and using confocal laser scanning microscopy images. The analyzed extracts were found to have high antifungal activity against Candida glabrata with MIC values of 1.717 µg/mL for leaf and 1.935 µg/mL for root. The antitumor activity of the both extracts against A2780/A2780cisR ovarian, LNCaP prostate and MCF-7 breast cancer cells was promising with IC₅₀ values ranging from 23-274 µg/mL for leaf and 18-152 µg/mL for root, and the combination of N. alba extracts with cisplatin showed a synergistic effect (coefficient of drug interaction <1). The antioxidant properties were assessed by β-carotene bleaching, ABTS and FRAP assays and cyclic voltammetry. Quercetin, the most prominent antioxidant, was quantified in very good yields by spectroelectrochemical assay.

Keywords: Nymphaea alba; antifungal activity; antioxidant compounds; antitumor activity; quercetin.

Grants and funding

36355/23.05.2019 HRD OP /380/6/13 - SMIS Code: 123847./ANTREPRENORDOC, in the framework of Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2014-2020, financed from the European Social Fund :