Phytochemical Composition, Antimicrobial, Anticancer Properties and Molecular Docking Profiles of Tragopogon coelesyriacus Boiss. Extracts

Abstract Tragopogon coelesyriacus is a biennial herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family that grows mainly in Europe and Asia and is consumed as a vegetable in Turkey. This study aimed to obtain methanol and water extracts from aerial parts (stem, leaf, and flower) of the T. coelesyriacus to determine its phenolic compounds and subsequently to determine the antimicrobial and anticancer activities of T. coelesyriacus extracts as well as in silico molecular docking profiles for targets. T. coelesyriacus methanol extract had a higher inhibitory effect against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and K. pneumonia (MIC: 0.83, 1.67 and 1.67 mg/mL, respectively) than E. coli and E. aerogenes (MIC: 53.3 mg/mL). Antifungal activity was observed against all Candida species, with the highest inhibition against C. krusei (MIC: 0.83 mg/mL). In contrast, T. coelesyriacus water extract had no inhibitory effect. Furthermore, both extracts of T. coelesyriacus showed a significant cytotoxic effect on AR42J pancreatic cancer cells. However, HeLa cervical and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were more resistant to the cytotoxic effect of methanol and water extract, respectively. In silico analyses showed the inhibitory effects of Keracyanin chloride within the extracts on S. aureus MurB protein and the remarkable inhibitory potential of the Naringin molecule on FYN kinase protein regarding AR42J pancreatic cells. This study is the first in vitro and in silico analysis to show T. coelesyriacus antimicrobial and anticancer effects along with molecular docking profiles, and it suggests that T. coelesyriacus can be used as a potent pharmacological and therapeutic-protective agent.