Determination of the chemical composition, antioxidant potential of Sambucus ebulus L. (dwarf elder) fruit extracts and investigation of antimicrobial activity on Trichophyton rubrum (Castell.) Sabour and some microorganisms

Background and Aims: Sambucus ebulus L. is one of the medicinal plants well known in the traditional medicine of Anatolia since ancient times. The present study was aimed to investigate the antifungal potential of S. ebulus fruit extracts against Trichophyton rubrum (Castell.) Sabour as well as phytochemical composition, antibacterial, and antioxidant activities based on traditional usage. Methods: Two extracts were prepared from S. ebulus fruits. The phytochemical composition of S. ebulus fruit extracts was identified by LC-MS/MS. The antimicrobial activity was examined by using the broth microdilution method against a panel of microorganisms. In addition to this, S. ebulus extracts were evaluated for their in vitro antifungal activity against three yeast and T. rubrum by disc diffusion method. Results: The major compounds were determined in dried fruit methanol extract (DFM) as hederagenin (5.38 +/- 0.4949 mu g/g) and fumaric acid (3.06 +/- 0.0275 mu g/g). The fumaric acid (3.97 +/- 0.0357 mu g/g) was detected as the abundant compound in the fresh fruit juice (FFJ). Acacetin, chrysin, eupatilin, hederagenin, isosakuranetin, myricitrin, and rhamnocitrin were detected in the extracts for the first time. DFM showed moderate activity against E. coli (MIC: 625 mg/L) and Candida tropicalis (MIC: 312.5 mg/L). Both extracts possessed weak activity against Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus,which had the MIC values 1250 mg/L. T. rubrum was found resistant to both extracts. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical cleaning method was used to measure the antioxidant capacity of the extracts. DFM and FFJ exhibited strong antioxidant activity against DPPH radicals with IC50 value of 5.941 +/- 0.236 mu g/mL and 7.893 +/- 0.939 mu g/mL, respectively. Conclusion: As a conclusion, although S. ebulus fruits are used to treat nail fungus (onychomycosis) by local folk, our results showed that it could not be useful to use in the antifungal topical formulations. In addition to this, the antibacterial activity result is parallel to the results of studies in this particular so far.