In-vitro antioxidative potential of different fractions from Prunus dulcis seeds: Vis a vis antiproliferative and antibacterial activities of active compounds

• Ethyl acetate fraction exhibited strong antioxidative properties.
• Significant correlation between antioxidant activities and total flavonoid conten.
• Six pure compounds were isolated from ethyl acetate fraction.
• All the isolated compounds exhibit appreciable DPPH and antibacterial activities.
• Gallic acid and pyrogallol appear to be antiproliferative in nature.

In the present investigation, antioxidant activities of different fractions of Prunus dulcis seed extract were evaluated. The warring blender method was employed for extraction and total phenol and flavonoid contents were correlated with the diverse antioxidant activities of different fractions that showed significant correlation with the total flavonoid content. Maximum antioxidative activities were exhibited by its ethyl acetate fraction which was selected for isolation of different compounds. Six pure compounds were isolated which were further evaluated for antiradical, antiproliferative and antibacterial activities. Out of six compounds, gallic acid, pyrogallol, ethyl gallate and protocatechuic acid showed potent 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity. Gallic acid and pyrogallol were also found to be antiproliferative on two breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468). Further, most of the compounds exhibited an antibacterial activity similar to chloramphenicol. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on the antioxidant activities of four different fractions of P. dulcis seed and also on the antiradical, antiproliferative and antibacterial activities of the isolated compounds.