Biological Activities of Extracts from Aerial Parts of Salvia pachyphylla

The antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and enzyme inhibitory properties of five extracts from aerial parts of Salvia pachyphylla were examined to assess the prospective of this plant as a source of natural products with therapeutic potential. Those properties were analyzed performing a set of standard assays. The extract obtained with dichloromethane showed the most variety of components, as yielded promising results in all completed assays. Furthermore, the extract obtained with ethyl acetate exhibited that greatest antioxidant activity as well as the best xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity. Remarkably, both extracts obtained with n-hexane or dichloromethane revealed significant antimicrobial activity against the Gram-positive bacteria; also, they showed greater antiproliferative activity against three representative cell lines of the most common types of cancers in women worldwide, and against a cell line that exemplifies cancers that typically develop drug resistance. Despite that other extracts were less active, such as the methanolic or aqueous, their results are promising for the isolation and identification of novel bioactive molecules.