Phytochemical Profiling, Biological Activities, and Molecular Docking Studies of Essential Oils from Ziziphus...

The current study describes the chemical profiles and biological activities of essential oils (EOs) from Ziziphus leucodermis stem and leaves for the first time. Higher quantity of β-eudesmol (1) was found in stem (43.4 ± 0.68%) compared to leave's oil, while leaves contained higher amounts of α-bergamotene (2, 13.5 ± 0.65%) and β-eudesmene (3, 7.4 ± 0.51%) compared to stem. Significant potential was shown by leave's oil having IC₅₀ of 133.5 ± 0.80 µg/mL than stem's oil (IC₅₀ = 210.4 ± 0.20 µg/mL) against breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells. Similarly, higher inhibition was observed by leave's oil (IC₅₀ = 1.61 ± 0.08 µg/mL) than stem's oil (IC₅₀ = 2.39 ± 0.10) against α-glucosidase enzyme, while stem (95.36 ± 2.10) determined higher carbonic anhydrase II activity than leaves (116.54 ± 0.86) compared to standards. Furthermore, only stem oil had significant antimicrobial activity against gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) having MIC of 12.5 ± 0.2 and fungi (Candida albicans and Candida kruzei) with an equal concentration of 50.0 ± 0.4 mm. The compounds identified in the stem and leaves oils were docked with the active pocket of α-glucosidase enzyme. In conclusion, these EOs might be a natural source for the treatment of breast cancer, antimicrobial, and diabetes-related diseases.