Phytochemical profiling, antimicrobial and anticancer potential of Rosmarinus officinalis growing in Kashmir Himalayan region

Abstract

Currently, medicinal plants are gaining importance in pharmaceutical and scientific communities. Medicinal plants are the most abundant natural source of valuable phytochemicals, which can help treat human diseases. The present study aimed to do phytochemical profiling and assess the antimicrobial and anticancer activity of the methanolic leaf extract of Rosmarinus officinalis. The photochemical profiling of R. officinalis leaves was done by GC-MS analysis. Twenty-six compounds were identified from the leaf extracts with great significance in pharmaceutical science for therapeutically efficient formulations to combat various diseases. The antimicrobial activity was done by the well diffusion method, while the anticancer potential against the A549 lung cancer cell line by MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The highest zone of inhibition was seen against Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 (21 ± 0.7 mm), Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 (19 ± 0.8 mm), Candida albicans ATCC 10231 (18± 0.6 mm) followed by Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 (18 ± 0.8 mm) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11 ± 0.5 mm) with MIC values ranging from 128 to 256 µg/mL. R. officinalis demonstrated significant (p ≤ 0.05) anticancer activity against the A549 cancer cell line with IC50 values of 39.70 and 33.60 µg/mL for 24 and 48 hours, respectively. The methanolic extract of R. officinalis can be a potential antimicrobial and anticancer agent and a vital resource for developing new drugs.