Extracts from leaves and stems of Thymelaea tartonraira (L.) All. growing in Tunisia were characterised for the presence of flavonoids and phenolic acids by LC-ESI-MS analysis. Twelve flavonoids and ten phenolic acids were detected for the first time in the aerial parts of this plant species, the most abundant compounds being gallic acid, kaempferol, catechin, chlorogenic acid, naringenin and acacetin. The extracts were subjected to in vitro antileishmanial, antifungal and cytotoxic assays, showing promising antileishmanial activity for the E6 dichloromethane extract from the stems (IC50 values of 1.12 ± 0.50 and 5.41 ± 1.84 µg/mL on L. donovani axenic and intramacrophagic amastigotes, respectively) at the level of the reference drug miltefosine for axenic model. No antifungal activity was observed against Candida albicans (CAAL) and Aspergillus fumigatus (ASFU) strains, with the exception of the E6 dichloromethane extract (IC50 value of 25.28 ± 4.89 µg/mL on CAAL93 strain). Low toxicity was also highlighted against macrophages Raw 264.7 cells. These promising results point out Thymelaea tartonraira (L.) All. extracts as a valuable source of new natural products to combat leishmaniasis.
Keywords: Antileishmanial activity; LC-ESI-MS analysis; antifungal activity; cytotoxicity; thymelaea tartonraira (L.) all.