Herbal power: antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticholinesterase properties  of Citrullus colocynthis

Emre Sevindik; Orhan Unal; Imran Uysal; Mansur Seymen Seğmenoğlu; Mustafa Sevindik

doi:10.56782/pps.382

Published : 2025-05-14

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2025)

Herbal power: antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticholinesterase properties of Citrullus colocynthis

Emre Sevindik

Orhan Unal

Imran Uysal

Mansur Seymen Seğmenoğlu

Mustafa Sevindik

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56782/pps.382

Abstract

Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. is a biologically rich plant widely used in traditional medicine. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticholinesterase potential and phenolic/flavonoid contents of C. colocynthis. Antimicrobial tests using ethanol and methanol extracts revealed that it exhibited strong antimicrobial effects especially against pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, C. krusei and Acinetobacter baumannii. In addition, antioxidant activity tests showed that ethanol extract had high antioxidant capacity, while methanol extract was moderately effective. Phenolic and flavonoid content analyses showed that ethanol extract contained higher phenolic and flavonoid components. In addition, anticholinesterase activity tests showed that C. colocynthis extract exhibited a significant anticholinesterase effect, which could potentially be useful in the treatment of neurological diseases. These findings indicate that C. colocynthis is a potent natural resource with potential therapeutic benefits and its antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticholinesterase properties are of considerable importance in biomedical applications.

Keywords:

Antialzeihmer, Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Citrullus colocynthis, Medicinal plants

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Sevindik, E., Unal, O., Uysal, I., Seğmenoğlu, M. S., & Sevindik, M. (2025). Herbal power: antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticholinesterase properties of Citrullus colocynthis. Prospects in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 23(2), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.56782/pps.382

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Emre Sevindik

ph.d-emre@hotmail.com

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, 09-100 Aydın, Türkiye

Orhan Unal

ounal@akdeniz.edu.tr

Affiliation:

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Akdeniz University, 07-070 Antalya, Türkiye Turkey

Imran Uysal

uysal-imran@hotmail.com

Affiliation:

Department of Food Processing, Bahçe Vocational School, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, 80-500 Osmaniye, Türkiye Turkey

Mansur Seymen Seğmenoğlu

mansurseymen@gmail.com

Affiliation:

Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, 80-000 Osmaniye, Turkey Turkey

Mustafa Sevindik

sevindik27@gmail.com

Affiliation:

a:1:{s:5:"en_US";s:115:"Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Faculty of Science and Literature, Department of Biology, Osmaniye, 80000, Türkiye";} Turkey

Herbal power: antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticholinesterase properties of Citrullus colocynthis

Emre Sevindik

Orhan Unal

Imran Uysal

Mansur Seymen Seğmenoğlu

Mustafa Sevindik

Abstract

Keywords:

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