Antioxidant Profiling of Silybum marianum Flower crude Aqueous Extract and Its Antimicrobial Efficiency Against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli
Department of Biology, College of Education for Pure Science, Tikritt University, Tikrit 34001,Iraq.
Research Article
International Journal of Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences Archive, 2026, 11(02), 205-212.
Article DOI: 10.53771/ijbpsa.2026.11.2.0065
Publication history:
Received on 18 May 2026; revised on 23 June 2026; accepted on 26 June 2026
Abstract:
Silybum marianum L. is a widely recognized medicinal plant for its bioactive phytochemicals and therapeutic potential. The study assessed the crude aquatic extract antioxidant activity, antimicrobial effectivity, and synergetic effect combined with ciprofloxacin against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The agar well diffusion method utilized to evaluate the antimicrobial activity, while antioxidant potential was identified by the DPPH radical scavenging assay. The extract putative major compound was also evaluated for physicochemical and ADME properties. The antimicrobial activity revealed that the aquatic extract of the seed–ciprofloxacin mixture exhibited the highest inhibition zone against E. coli (40 mm), followed by the extract of the flower–ciprofloxacin mixture (37 mm), compared with ciprofloxacin alone (33 mm). The flower extract–ciprofloxacin exhibited a 31 mm inhibition zone against S. aureus, whereas the seed extract–ciprofloxacin and ciprofloxacin alone showed 30 mm. The flower extract demonstrated strong antioxidant activity using the DPPH assay, with 75% radical scavenging activity at 100 mg/mL and a predicted IC₅₀ value of 14 µg/mL, which was close to ascorbic acid (13.9 µg/mL). The investigated extract was further investigated using ADME analysis, which showed that the extract associated compound has high water-solubility, non-BBB permeability, free from PAINS and Brenk alerts, and estimated low gastrointestinal absorption. Finally, these results suggest that S. marianum flower extract has promising antioxidant activity and might increas ciprofloxacin activity, particularly against E. coli. Further MIC, MBC, synergy, and phytochemical validation studies are required to confirm its antimicrobial potential.
Keywords:
Silybum marianum; Aqueous flower extract; Antioxidant activity; DPPH assay; Antimicrobial activity; Ciprofloxacin potentiation; Escherichia coli; Staphylococcus aureus
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Copyright © 2026 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0