Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L. (Rosaceae) is a shrup whose fruits are consumed as food in Turkey. This study was aimed to evaluate antioxidant activity of methanol extract of P. spinosa and its cytotoxic effects on cancer cell lines. Methanol extract of P. spinosa fruit was evaluated for its in vitro cytotoxic activity on multiform (GBM) brain cancer (LN229, U87 and T98G) and pancreas cancer (PANC-1 and AsPC-1) cell lines. Cell viability assays were performed by calculating the percentage of viable cells using a luminescence system, and spectrophotometrically. measuring its antioxidant ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities. Differences were considered as statistically significant at p*<0.001 and p**<0.0005 according to unpaired student t-test. Methanol extract of P. spinosa fruit showed 2548±18 mg GAE/100 g correspon-ding to the total phenolic content, and moderate antioxidant activity (0.1896±0.1143 and 0.0729±0.0348) by ABTS� and DPPH� assays. To the best of our knowledge, after evaluating the results of brain and pancreas cancer cell lines, significant cytotoxic activities with 50-63% cell viability of GBM brain cancer cells were determined while no cytotoxicity was observed on pancreas cancer cell lines, PANC-1; and AsPC-1. The results of this study showed that the methanol extract of P. spinosa fruit has significant antioxidant capacity and leads to statistically significant decreased viability on glioblastoma brain cancer cells.

Lactuca L. species belong to the Asteraceae family and these plants are traditionally used for therapeutic purposes around the world. The dried milky latex of L. serriola is known as “lettuce oil” and is used as a sedative in Turkey. This study aimed to evaluate the sedative effects and analyze the chemical compositions of latexes obtained from some Lactuca species growing in Turkey. The sedative effects were evaluated through various behavioral tests on mice. For this purpose, latexes were obtained from L. glareosa Boiss., L. viminea (L.) J. Presl and C. P, L. mulgedioides (Vis and Panćić) Boiss. and Kotschy ex. Boiss., L. saligna L., and L. serriola L. The latex from L. saligna showed the highest sedative effects, whilst L. serriola and L. viminea latexes also displayed significant sedative effects compared to the control group at a dose of 100 mg/kg. However, the latexes from L. glareosa and L. mulqedioides did not exhibit any sedative effects on mice. Characteristic sesquiterpene lactones (lactucin, lactucopicrin, 11,13β-dihydrolactucin, and 11,13β-dihydrolactucopicrin) were determined qualitatively and quantitatively by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Lactucin was identified as the main component.

Arctium minus (Hill) Bernh. (Asteraceae), which has a wide distribution area in Turkey, is a medicinally important plant. Eighty percent methanol extracts of the leaf, flower head, and root parts of A. minus were prepared and their sub-fractions were obtained. Spectrophotometric and chromatographic (high-performance liquid chromatography) techniques were used to assess the phytochemical composition. The extracts were evaluated for antioxidant activity by diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil radical (DPPH^●), 2,2′-Azino-bis 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS^●+) radical scavenging, and β-carotene linoleic acid bleaching assays. Furthermore, the extracts were subjected to α-amylase, α-glucosidase, lipoxygenase, and tyrosinase enzyme inhibition tests. The cytotoxic effects of extracts were investigated on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. The richest extract in terms of phenolic compounds was identified as the ethyl acetate sub-fraction of the root extract (364.37 ± 7.18 mg_GAE/g_extact). Furthermore, chlorogenic acid (8.855 ± 0.175%) and rutin (8.359 ± 0.125%) were identified as the primary components in the leaves’ ethyl acetate sub-fraction. According to all methods, it was observed that the extracts with the highest antioxidant activity were the flower and leaf ethyl acetate fractions. Additionally, ABTS radical scavenging activity of roots’ ethyl acetate sub-fraction (2.51 ± 0.09 mmol/L Trolox) was observed to be as effective as that of flower and leaf ethyl acetate fractions at 0.5 mg/mL. In the β-carotene linoleic acid bleaching assay, leaves’ methanol extract showed the highest antioxidant capacity (1422.47 ± 76.85) at 30 min. The enzyme activity data showed that α-glucosidase enzyme inhibition of leaf dichloromethane extract was moderately high, with an 87.12 ± 8.06% inhibition value. Lipoxygenase enzyme inhibition was weakly detected in all sub-fractions. Leaf methanol extract, leaf butanol, and root ethyl acetate sub-fractions showed 99% tyrosinase enzyme inhibition. Finally, it was discovered that dichloromethane extracts of leaves, roots, and flowers had high cytotoxic effects on the MDA-MB-231 cell line, with IC50 values of 21.39 ± 2.43, 13.41 ± 2.37, and 10.80 ± 1.26 µg/mL, respectively. The evaluation of the plant extracts in terms of several bioactivity tests revealed extremely positive outcomes. The data of this study, in which all parts of the plant were investigated in detail for the first time, offer promising results for future research.

Centaurea pichleri subsp. pichleri, Conyza canadensis, and Jasminum fruticans are traditionally used plants grown in Turkey. Methanol extracts were obtained from these plants and pharmacological activity studies and phytochemical analyses were carried out. To evaluate the phytochemical composition, spectrophotometric and chromatographic techniques were used. The extracts were evaluated for antioxidant activity by DPPH^●, ABTS^●+ radical scavenging, and FRAP assays. The cytotoxic effects of the extracts were investigated on DU145 prostate cancer and A549 lung cancer cell lines. The anti-inflammatory effects of extracts were investigated on the NO amount, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and PGE 2 levels in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated Raw 264.7 cells. The richest extract in terms of phenolic compounds (98.19 ± 1.64 mg_GAE/g_extract) and total flavonoids (21.85 ± 0.64 mg_CA/g_extract) was identified as C. pichleri subsp. pichleri methanol extract. According to antioxidant activity determinations, the C. pichleri subsp. pichleri extract was found to be the most active extract. Finally, the C. pichleri subsp. pichleri methanol extract was revealed to be the most effective inhibitor of viability in the cytotoxic activity investigation, and the extract with the best anti-inflammatory action. The findings point to C. pichleri subsp. pichleri as a promising source of bioactive compounds in the transition from natural sources to industrial uses, such as new medications, cosmeceuticals, and nutraceuticals.

Background/Objectives: This study investigates the phytochemical profile, essential oil composition, and bioactivities—including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antibio-film, and anti-quorum sensing (QS) activities—of four Heracleum L. species (H. crenatifolium Boiss, H. paphlagonicum Czeczott, H. sphondylium subsp. montanum Schleich. ex Gaudin, and H. pastinacifolium subsp. incanum (Boiss. & A.Huet) P.H.Davis). Methods: Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were quantified using the Folin–Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride colorimetric methods, respectively. Essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed via Gas Chromatography–Flame Ionization Detector (GC–FID) and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS), while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) evaluated chemical variability among the species. Antioxidant activities were assessed using DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging assays. Antimicrobial activity was assessed using the broth microdilution method to determine Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values, while antibiofilm activity was evaluated using an in vitro microplate-based biofilm model against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Anti-QS activity was analyzed using a disc diffusion assay with Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 12472 as the reporter strain. Results: It was observed that the amounts of total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids were higher in root extracts than in aerial parts extracts for the four species in this study (H. sphondylium subsp. montanum excluding phenolic content). In the analysis of essential oil, it was determined that the major component in the roots was mostly myristicin, and in the fruits it was mostly octyl acetate. Phenolic and flavonoid contents were positively correlated with antioxidant activity. Methanol and n-hexane extracts of H. pastinacifolium (aerial parts) and n-hexane extracts of H. paphlagonicum (root) exhibited notable antimicrobial activity, primarily against Gram-positive bacteria, but none of the extracts showed activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 13383 or P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853. Among methanol extracts, H. pastinacifolium (aerial parts) exhibited the highest antibiofilm activity (73.2%), while H. paphlagonicum (aerial parts) showed the highest activity among n-hexane extracts (75.5%). All n-hexane extracts exhibited anti-QS activity, whereas the methanol extracts showed no activity. Conclusions: These findings underscore the chemical diversity and bioactive potential of Heracleum species, contributing to the chemotaxonomic understanding of the genus and supporting their potential applications in medicine and industry. To our knowledge, this is the first study that reveals the antibiofilm and anti-QS properties of these Heracleum species.