Screening for antioxidant, antifungal, and antitumor activities of aqueous extracts of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the optimum conditions to isolate aqueous extracts of chamomile seeds at different pHs and modify chemically by means of sulfation. In this work, the extracts of chamomile seeds were obtained by means of water extraction (80°C) at three different concentrations (acidic, neutral, and alkaline conditions), followed by sulfation with chlorosulfonic acid. Materials and methods In all obtained extracts and sulfated derivatives, the content of total phenols and flavonoids was determined. The antioxidant activities of the extracts were measured using the diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity method and displayed, in general, the moderate activity for all studied extracts. The agar diffusion method was utilized to screen the antifungal effects of both extracts and their sulfated derivatives. The antitumor effect of extracts at different concentrations (300, 600, and 900 μg/ml) was measured microscopically using the cell cancer viability test. Results The aqueous extracts and their corresponding sulfates produced the same activity against two strains of Aspergillus niger and Penicillium citrinum at the concentration of 40 μg/disc as compared with the reference commercial fungicidal griseofulvin. The activity of all extracts revealed slight inhibition of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cell line growth. Conclusion Water extracts of chamomile plant seeds obtained at different pH conditions demonstrated moderate antioxidant, antifungal, and antitumor activities. Further studies are needed to increase the efficiency of extraction methods to increase phenolic and flavonoid proportions in extracts.