Biochemical and biological studies of irradiated and non-irradiated extracts of Solanum aculeastrum Dunal fruit

Abstract This study explores the impact of γ-irradiation on ethanolic extracts of Solanum aculeastrum Dunal. The anti-cancer and antimicrobial properties were investigated. The obtained results revealed that total phenol (TP) and total flavonoid (TF) of total ethanol extract (100%) (FTE) were higher than 70% ethanol extract (SE), and these contents increased after gamma radiation with 5 kGy. The results of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the Solanum aculeastrum extracts suggested that FTE and 5 kGy-irradiated FTE can be used to control and prevent skin infections caused by MRSA and endocarditis, urinary tract infections, and prostatitis caused by Enterococcus faecalis. The FTE sample irradiated at 5 kGy showed cytotoxicity for A431 and Hct-116 cell lines similar to the control sample and higher than the toxicity revealed by the samples irradiated at 10 kGy. In normal cells (Bj-1), the toxicity was decreased after irradiation (IC50 = 31 μg/ml) compared to the non-irradiated extract (IC50 = 26.1 μg/ml). Molecular docking suggested Sortase A to play a role in chlorogenic acid antibacterial activity towards Staphylococcus aureus. In conclusion, γ-irradiation can be used to enhance the phytoconstituents of Solanum aculeastrum fruit extracts and, consequently, its biological properties.