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In this study, the aqueous and ethanolic extracts (leaves, stems and fruits) from Morus alba L., a traditional Chinese medicine, were evaluated for their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Ethanolic extracts showed higher contents of both total phenolics and flavonoids than aqueous extracts. The total phenolic content was in the order of: leaf extracts > fruit extracts > stem extracts, whereas the total flavonoids was: leaf extracts > stem extracts > fruit extracts. Using DPPH assays, the concentrations providing 50% inhibition (IC50) values of aqueous extracts from leaves, stems and fruits were 7.11 ± 1.45 mg/ml, 86.78 ± 3.21 mg/ml and 14.38 ± 2.83 mg/ml, respectively, whereas the IC50 values of ethanolic extracts were 3.11 ± 0.86 mg/ml, 14.62 ± 2.45 mg/ml and 12.42 ± 2.76 mg/ml, respectively. In sum, the antioxidant activities of ethanolic extracts from M. alba L. were stronger than the aqueous extracts, and in the order of: leaf extracts > fruit extracts > stem extracts. The ethanolic extracts exhibited moderate antimicrobial activities, whereas the aqueous extracts showed poor antimicrobial properties in our test system. This study validated the medicinal potential of M. alba L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial and in vitro anti-tumor activities of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil (TTO) were analyzed. The results indicated that TTO possessed significant antimicrobial activity towards all tested microorganisms except Aspergillus niger. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of TTO towards Staphylococcus epidermidi, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans was 0.25% (v/v). Time kinetic experiments showed that Staphylococcus epidermidi, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans were completely killed after exposure to TTO at 2× MIC for 1, 4 and 8 h, repectively. TTO also exhibited strong cytotoxicity towards human lung cancer cell line (A549), human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and human prostate cancer cell line (PC-3). The IC50 values obtained were 0.012% (v/v), 0.031% (v/v) and 0.037% (v/v), respectively. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that TTO restrained the cell cycle progression of PC-3 and MCF-7 cell lines at the G0/G1 phase and A549 cell at the S phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]