Phytochemicals, Antioxidant Activity, and Biological Activities of Rosa persica Root

The present study assessed the phytochemicals and biological activities of Rosa persica root extracts. The phytoconstituents of R. persica root were quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-photodiode array detection-mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-PDA-MSn). Concentrations of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), total proanthocyanidin content (TPAC), and antioxidant capacity were also measured in aqueous and ethanol (EtOH) extracts. Their bioactivities in terms of antiviral (against two cell lines), antimicrobial (against eight bacteria strains), antifungal (against two fungal strains), and cytotoxic (against eight cell lines) effects were assessed. The maximum effects were found in EtOH extract of R. persica root. The main components of the R. persica essential oil (RPEO) were methyl eugenol (73.1%) and geranyl acetone (10.3%). UPLC-ESI-PDA-MSn analysis showed that gallic acid (GA) was found in the highest concentration in the EtOH extract (461.80 +/- 90.3 mu g/g). In the antiviral assay, the half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of EtOH extract for Coxsackievirus B3 (CV-B3) and Coxsackievirus B4 (CV-B4) were 29.26 +/- 0.5 and 24.70 +/- 0.2 mu g/mL, respectively. The cytotoxic concentrations (CC50) calculated for EtOH extract against both cell lines were significantly lower than aqueous extract (89.13 +/- 0.3 and 75.03 +/- 0.1 mu g/mL, respectively). The most sensitive bacteria strain in both extracts was Staphylococcus aureus. Activity in fungal strains, Candida albicans was more sensitive than Aspergillus niger. The current cytotoxicity results between the two extracts of R. persica showed that both had the highest and lowest cytotoxic activity against human glioblastoma (U-87-MG) and human breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines, respectively.