Phytochemical characterisation of dichloromethane and methanolic extracts of the Ziziphora tenuior leaves and evaluation of their antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

Medicinal plants, known for their antibacterial phytocompounds and secondary metabolites, offer promising potential in combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This study aimed to perform a phytochemical analysis of the methanol and dichloromethane extracts obtained from Ziziphora tenuior leaves using GC-MS. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of the extracts was evaluated through the DPPH assay. And, their antibacterial activity was assessed against S. aureus, E. coli, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, and vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) bacterial strains. Based on the results 90-92% of these extracts consisted of phytocompounds with pharmaceutical properties. Of these, 5-methyl- 2-(1-methylethylidele), Cyclohexanone (Pulegone; C10H16O) comprised the highest percentage of the extracts, constituting 62% of methanolic extract and 81% of dichloromethane extract. Also, both methanolic and dichloromethane extracts showed potent antioxidant activity with IC50 of 277.6 µg/ml and 49.6 µg/ml, respectively. Moreover, these extracts demonstrated considerable antibacterial activity against the tested pathogens, especially against S. aureus and VRE.