Ward Taifi (Taif rose) is considered one of the most important economic products of Taif, Saudi Arabia. In this study both fresh and dry Taif rose were biologically and phytochemically investigated. The 80% methanol extracts andn-butanol fractions of dry and fresh Taif rose had high radical scavenging activity toward artificial 1,1-diphenyl picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)^•radical with SC₅₀values range 5.86−12.24 µg/ml whereas the aqueous fractions showed weak activity. All samples hadin vitroanticancer activity toward HepG2 with IC₅₀< 20 µg/ml which fall within the criteria of the American Cancer Institute. High positive correlation appeared between the antioxidant activity and total phenolics whereas there is no correlation between total phenolics and anticancer activity. The LC-ESI(− ve)-MS analysis of all extracts indicate the presence of phenolic compounds belonging to hydrolysable tannins and flavonol glycosides. In conclusion, the presence of this is considered to be the first phytochemical report that identifies the major compounds in dry and fresh roses using HPLC-ESI-MS. The methanol extracts and itsn-butanol and aqueous fractions for both fresh and dry Taif rose could be used as preventive and therapeutic effective natural agents for diseases in which free radicals involved after morein vitroandin vivostudies.

Essential oils of aromatic plants as an important phytochemical class have been recognized for many years as a great source of pharmaceutical agents and food additives. There are many factors influencing the chemical composition of the essential oils including extraction techniques. In this project, the effect of extraction methods (hydrodistillation, microwave assisted hydrodistillation and solvent free microwave extraction) of Mentha longifolia L. growing in Taif, KSA on the yield and chemical composition of their essential oils were investigated. In addition, anticancer and antimicrobial activities of essential oils obtained were determined. The results showed no great difference between the oil yield obtained by the three different methods, but the methods used microwave were rapid, saving time and energy than the hydrodistillation method. The qualitative chemical compositions of the three oils for each species were similar with little quantitative differences of some compounds between the three methods. The oils consist mainly from monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in which pulegone was the main component. All essential oils showed high antibacterial activity and moderate in vitro anticancer activity. In conclusion, this considered the first study represented the effect of microwave extraction in the chemical composition of M. longifolia essential oil growing in Taif, KSA. The authors recommended the usage of the microwave method in the extraction of mint essential oil because it is energy and time saving, in addition to environmentally friendly.

Oriental Journal of Chemistry is a peer reviewed quarterly research journal of pure and applied chemistry. It publishes standard research papers in almost all thrust areas of current chemistry of academic and commercial importance. It provides a platform for rapid publication of quality research papers, reviews and chemistry letters. Oriental Journal of Chemistry is abstracted and indexed in almost all reputed National and International agencies.

Rosa damascena Miller var. trigintipetala Dieck (Taif rose) is considered as one of the most important economic products of Taif governorate, KSA. In this study, the different components of Taif rose essential oil were characterized using GC-MS technique. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxic, genotoxic and anticancer effects of the oil were investigated toward normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes and two kinds of human cancer cell lines; HepG2 and MCF7. GC-MS analysis showed that the acyclic monoterpene alcohols had the highest content (254.7 mg/g oil). The major components of the oil that have relative percentage > 5% were β-citronellol, geraniol, nerol, linalool, phenylethyl alcohol and nonadecane. The results showed that the oil was safe at a dose < 50 μg/mL when applied to normal human blood lymphocytes monitored by 7-AAD assay and DNA index determination. The oil exerted anticancer activity against HepG2 and MCF7 with IC₅₀ = 13.03 ± 0.8 and 16.44 ± 1.4 μg/mL respectively. In conclusion, the essential oil of Taif rose can be used as an effective therapeutic natural agent after more toxicological in vitro and in vivo studies.