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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Molecules

Polarity-Guided Extraction of Crithmum maritimum L.: Phenolic Profiling, Selective Anticancer Activity in AR42J and HT-29 Cells, and Antimicrobial Effects

  • İlknur Yılmaz1
  • Fatmanur Yazıcı1
  • Emine Gülçin Köse1,2,3
  • Sevde Nur Üçüncü1,3
  • Sude Büşra Köseoğlu3,4
  • Funda Bilgili-Tetikoğlu1,3
  • Yakup Kara5
  • Nevzat Batan4
  • Dimitris Mossialos6
  • Selcen Çelik-Uzuner1
6 affiliations
  1. 1Epigenetics and Cancer Research Group (EPIKA), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon, Türkiye
  2. 2Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon, Türkiye
  3. 3Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon, Türkiye
  4. 4Biomics Research Group, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon, Türkiye
  5. 5Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon, Türkiye
  6. 6Microbial Biotechnology-Molecular Bacteriology-Virology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece
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Abstract

Crithmum maritimum L. (sea fennel) (C. maritimum) is a halophyte plant rich in phenolic compounds, flavonoids, essential oils, and other secondary metabolites. Despite its traditional medicinal use, no study has comprehensively compared multiple solvent extracts of C. maritimum across diverse cancer and non-cancerous cell lines, leaving its solvent-dependent cytotoxic potential and selectivity largely uncharacterized. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the biochemical composition of different extracts of C. maritimum (obtained using ethanol, ethyl acetate, and distilled water) and the cytotoxic effects of these extracts on pancreatic cancer (AR42J) and colon cancer (HT-29) cell lines, compared to a healthy cell line (ARPE19). Additionally, we determined the extracts’ antimicrobial activity against various bacteria and a fungal species. Ethanol yielded the richest and most diverse phenolic profile in C. maritimum, while ethyl acetate extracted moderate levels, and the aqueous extract contained only minor amounts, demonstrating that solvent polarity strongly influences the recovery of bioactive phenolic compounds. Ethanol extracts showed the strongest and most consistent cytotoxicity across normal and cancer cells, while ethyl acetate extracts exhibited high and selective activity on cancer cells. Water extract demonstrated selective cytotoxic effects during prolonged incubations. The extracts displayed solvent-dependent antimicrobial activity, with ethanol and ethyl acetate fractions showing potent inhibition, particularly against Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Candida albicans, and Staphylococcus aureus. In contrast, the water extract showed no activity. Overall, the findings indicate that C. maritimum contains bioactive constituents with selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells and microorganisms, depending on the extraction solvent, supporting its potential as a source of natural anticancer and antimicrobial agents.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{yılmaz2026polarityguided,
  title = {{Polarity-Guided Extraction of Crithmum maritimum L.: Phenolic Profiling, Selective Anticancer Activity in AR42J and HT-29 Cells, and Antimicrobial Effects}},
  author = {İlknur Yılmaz and Fatmanur Yazıcı and Emine Gülçin Köse and Sevde Nur Üçüncü and Sude Büşra Köseoğlu and Funda Bilgili-Tetikoğlu and Yakup Kara and Nevzat Batan and Dimitris Mossialos and Selcen Çelik-Uzuner},
  journal = {Molecules},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3390/molecules31213877},
  url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/31/21/3877},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Polarity-Guided Extraction of Crithmum maritimum L.: Phenolic Profiling, Selective Anticancer Activity in AR42J and HT-29 Cells, and Antimicrobial Effects
AU  - İlknur Yılmaz
AU  - Fatmanur Yazıcı
AU  - Emine Gülçin Köse
AU  - Sevde Nur Üçüncü
AU  - Sude Büşra Köseoğlu
AU  - Funda Bilgili-Tetikoğlu
AU  - Yakup Kara
AU  - Nevzat Batan
AU  - Dimitris Mossialos
AU  - Selcen Çelik-Uzuner
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/27
JO  - Molecules
DO  - 10.3390/molecules31213877
UR  - https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/31/21/3877
AB  - Crithmum maritimum L. (sea fennel) (C. maritimum) is a halophyte plant rich in phenolic compounds, flavonoids, essential oils, and other secondary metabolites. Despite its traditional medicinal use, no study has comprehensively compared multiple solvent extracts of C. maritimum across diverse cancer and non-cancerous cell lines, leaving its solvent-dependent cytotoxic potential and selectivity largely uncharacterized. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the biochemical composition of different extracts of C. maritimum (obtained using ethanol, ethyl acetate, and distilled water) and the cytotoxic effects of these extracts on pancreatic cancer (AR42J) and colon cancer (HT-29) cell lines, compared to a healthy cell line (ARPE19). Additionally, we determined the extracts’ antimicrobial activity against various bacteria and a fungal species. Ethanol yielded the richest and most diverse phenolic profile in C. maritimum, while ethyl acetate extracted moderate levels, and the aqueous extract contained only minor amounts, demonstrating that solvent polarity strongly influences the recovery of bioactive phenolic compounds. Ethanol extracts showed the strongest and most consistent cytotoxicity across normal and cancer cells, while ethyl acetate extracts exhibited high and selective activity on cancer cells. Water extract demonstrated selective cytotoxic effects during prolonged incubations. The extracts displayed solvent-dependent antimicrobial activity, with ethanol and ethyl acetate fractions showing potent inhibition, particularly against Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Candida albicans, and Staphylococcus aureus. In contrast, the water extract showed no activity. Overall, the findings indicate that C. maritimum contains bioactive constituents with selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells and microorganisms, depending on the extraction solvent, supporting its potential as a source of natural anticancer and antimicrobial agents.
SN  - 1420-3049
ER  -