Chemical and biological profile of the species Batis maritima Linnaeus extracts

Medicinal plants have been used empirically since ancient civilizations to alleviate and cure diseases. Secondary metabolites of these plants, such as phenolics and flavonoids, have important anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses a public health challenge. The use of plant products presents an alternative in the treatment of resistant microbial infections, provided that these plants are previously evaluated in toxicity tests, ensuring their safe use. In this study, we evaluated the composition and antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities of aqueous and ethanolic extracts obtained from the leaves, stems, and roots of Batis maritima Linnaeus. The six extracts obtained were subjected to phytochemical screening, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), 1,1-diphenyl-2 picrylhydrazine (DPPH) reduction, and erythrocyte hemolytic activity assays. During the investigation, all extracts presented flavonoids in qualitative analyses, with emphasis on the ethanolic extract of the leaves, which also presented tannins, saponins, and coumarins. In the quantitative evaluation, this same extract stood out for the presence of phenols and flavonoids. The same effect was also observed in the antioxidant evaluation, where the same extract showed greater scavenging activity compared to the other extracts at all concentrations tested. All extracts inhibited bacterial growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Escherichia coli. However, the ethanolic extract of the leaves was the only one that inhibited Pseudomonas aeruginosa and displayed bactericidal activity against S. aureus. This extract excelled in the cytotoxic assay, showing lower toxicity at lower concentrations (31.25 to 0.97 μg/mL). Chromatographic analyses revealed a flavonoid as the major compound in the ethanolic leaf extract, suggesting it may be responsible for the promising biological activities demonstrated by this extract in our findings. Overall, the evaluation of the biological potential of Batis maritima extracts yielded promising results in the search for natural antimicrobial compounds, with the ethanolic leaf extract standing out as a potential catalyst for future scientific investigations.