Phytochemical Profiling and In Vitro Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, Cytotoxicity Effects of Some Glycyrrhiza Species from Turkey

Glycyrrhiza (licorice) species, known as "the grandfather of herbs" is one of the most popular medicinal plants used in traditional medicines and ethnobotany since ancient times. The present study aimed to determine the chemical composition, anti-cancer, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Glycyrrhiza glabra L., G. flavescens Boiss., and G. echinata L. taxa from different ecological conditions in Turkey. Root and leaf extracts of the plant samples were used to evaluate antimicrobial activity against 7 bacteria and 2 yeast strains using MICs and disc-diffusion methods. The antioxidant activity of plant samples was determined by using the DPPH radical scavenging activity method. The antimicrobial analysis results show that Gram-negative bacteria are more sensitive to the extracts than Gram-positive, and antimicrobial values of the root extracts were also more effective than the leaf extracts. The antioxidant activities of the extracts varied from 4.2 to 2196 mu g/mL. Cytotoxicity activities of the Glycyrrhiza extracts were assessed in NCI-N87, LNCaP, and BxPC-3 human cancer cells, and the extracts exhibited remarkable activities towards the cells, with the IC50 value ranging from 16.28 +/- 1.08 to 171.04 +/- 0.68 mu g/mL. Moreover, the chemical contents of the extracts were analyzed, and toluene, phenol, palmitic acid, chroman, butyric acid and lidocaine were determined in both the roots and leaves of the extracts. In the present study, our results also revealed that ecological conditions might affect the chemical content and biological activities of the extracts. Overall, it was found that the tested Glycyrrhiza extracts could have rich sources of medicinal drugs and natural plant products in the future.