ANTIMICROBIAL, ANTICANCER AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF HEART OF PALM TREE FROM BAM AREA

چکیده مقاله

Date tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.) belongs to palm family (palmacae). The plants have high economic value and is cultivated in hot climates of southwest to southeast [1]. The heart of palm is a white, edible and sweet material located in the crown of tree. It mainly constituted of the stem cells of the trunk and leaves of the plant before changing into wood [2]. Biological activities of the total methanol extract of the heart of palm tree cultivated in Bam area of Iran were investigated in this research. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated using disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration determination methods. Anticancer potential was determined by brine shrimp lethality assay and antioxidant property was measured by inhibition of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) stable free radical method. Heart of the palm exhibited suitable antibacterial activity against Psudeomonas aeruginosa (MIC = 125 µg/ml) and Shigella dysenteriae (MIC = 250 µg/ml) and good antifungal activity against Aspergillus brasiliensis (MIC = 500 µg/ml). The extract of heart of palm not only didn t kill the tested shrimp in the highest concentration, but also helped their survival and number of dead shrimps in control solutions were higher than in samples. This result suggests that the methanol extracts of the heart of palm can probably help cell division and accelerate it. Heart of the palm didn t exhibit suitable antioxidant property in DPPH test (IC50=1030µg/ml)