First comprehensive GC–MS profile of Echinops erinaceus with antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities and in-silico model

The genus Echinops (Asteraceae family) consists of 120 species and is native to Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. This is the first study to use gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) to examine the dissimilarity of the aerial parts of Kanab’s fatty acid profiles of Echinops erinaceus Kit Tan, collected in March 2017 and extracted with 95% ethanol–water using Soxhlet method. A total of 42 components were identified, representing nearly all of the total metabolites detected with 100% of Sap. and Un, and 99.62% of TL. In this study, we evaluated the antibacterial and cytotoxic properties as part of our ongoing quest for powerful therapeutic compounds/extracts, or fractions derived from Echinops erinaceus. Thus, the in vitro cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activities of lipoidal matters and their fractions, chloroform, and butanol extracts, were assessed on seven carcinoma cell lines and twenty distinct microbes. Un-, Sap-matters, and BuOH extract, and its fractions showed high to moderate cytotoxic activity among the examined samples. When compared to reference drugs, the antimicrobial potentiality of BuOH, CHCl3, and Sap. extracts against different strains of G-negative bacteria and fungi were found to be strong to moderate based on the agar well diffusion assay. Surprisingly, only the CHCl3 extract exhibited potent antibacterial activity, with a zone diameter of 20.0 ± 0.05 mm against a single Gram-positive bacterium. In contrast, the 2018 sample’s antimicrobial and cytotoxicity activities were previously obtained and published using just three cell lines and six microbes of the extracts (hexane, chloroform, and ethyl acetate), which were obtained by the cold maceration method. In order to support these biological activities, molecular docking was also carried out. This involved determining how well the main phytocomponents bonded to the binding sites of two proteins that were employed as cancer targets and three proteins that were used as targets for breast cancer and bacterial organisms in our earlier investigation on that plant. Overall, the extraction by the Soxhlet method using ethanolic alcohol enhanced both the cytotoxic and antimicrobial properties of Echinops erinaceus extracts.