Abstract
Aqueous extracts of two Cistus species wild growing in Croatia—Cistus creticus (CC) and Cistus salviifolius (CS)—have been assessed with UPLC-MS/MS, showing 43 different phytochemicals, with flavonol glycosides: myricetin-3-hexoside and myricetin-rhamnoside, predominate ones in CC and myricetin-3-hexoside in CS. Antioxidant potential tested with the FRAP method showed no difference between CS and CC aqueous extracts, while higher phenolic content of CC comparing to CS, determined with a Folin–Cicolateu reagent correlated to its higher antioxidant capacity observed by the DPPH method. Both extracts were assessed for antimicrobial activity, using disc-diffusion and broth microdilution assays, targeting the opportunistic pathogens, associated with food poisoning, urinary, respiratory tract, blood stream and wound infections in humans. Antimicrobial assays revealed that fungi were in general more sensitive to both Cistus aqueous extracts, comparing to the bacteria where two extracts showed very similar activity. The most potent activity was observed against A. baumannii for both extracts. The extracts were tested on human lung cancer (A549) cell line using the MTT assay, showing very similar antiproliferative activity. After 72 h treatment with CC and CS aqueous extracts in concentration of 0.5 g/L, the viability of the cells were 37% and 50% respectively, compared to non-treated cells.
Highlights
The Cistus genus belongs to a small family of Cistaceae of eight genera, widely distributed in the Mediterranean
Based on UPLC-MS/MS profiling of two Cistus extracts, this study reveals that aqueous extracts of CC and Cistus salviifolius (CS) represent a rich source of polyphenols with flavonol derivatives being the most abundant compounds in both samples
Myricetin-3-hexoside predominates in CS too, while myricetin-rhamnoside is present in significantly smaller amounts
Summary
The Cistus genus belongs to a small family of Cistaceae of eight genera, widely distributed in the Mediterranean. The species are known as rock roses and have noteworthy morphological diversification. This genus has several medicinal perennial shrubs widely distributed in the Mediterranean area [1]. According to ethno-pharmacology, the Cistus species has been used due to its antimicrobial, antiproliferative, anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiulcerogenic, antidiarrheal, and antispasmodic activity [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26]. It is known that some Cistus species have been used in human and animal diets, such as goats, lamb and beef [27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
