Polar extracts from (Tunisian) Acacia salicina Lindl. Study of the antimicrobial and antigenotoxic activities

The antimicrobial activity was tested on the Gram positive and Gram negative reference bacterial strains. The Mutagenic and antimutagenic activities against direct acting mutagens, methylmethane sulfonate (MMS) and 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine (NOPD), and indirect acting mutagens, 2-aminoanthracene (2-AA) and benzo[a]pyrene (B(a)P) were performed with S. typhimurium TA102 and TA98 assay systems. In addition, the enzymatic and nonenzymatic methods were employed to evaluate the anti-oxidative effects of the tested extracts.A significant effect against the Gram positive and Gram negative reference bacterial strains was observed with all the extracts. The mutagenic and antimutagenic studies revealed that all the extracts decreased the mutagenicity induced by B(a)P (7.5 μg/plate), 2-AA (5 μg/plate), MMS (1.3 mg/plate) and NOPD (10 μg/plate). Likewise, all the extracts showed an important free radical scavenging activity towards the superoxide anion generated by the xanthine/xanthine oxidase assay system, as well as high Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC), against the 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS)+？ radical. TOF-enriched extract exhibited the highest protective effect against free radicals, direct acting-mutagen and metabolically activated S9-dependent mutagens.The present study indicates that the extracts from A. salicina leaves are a significant source of compounds with the antimutagenic and antioxidant activities, and this may be useful for developing potential chemopreventive substances.Plants are rich source of natural products used for centuries to cure various diseases. The plant-derived medicines are based upon the premise that they contain natural substances that can promote health and alleviate illness. So, a retrospection of the healing power of plants and a return to natural substances are an absolute need of our time. The demonstration of the presence of natural products, such as polyphenols, alkaloids,