Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Dec 1;20(12):3771-3776.
doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.12.3771.

Antibacterial and Anticancer Activities of Fenugreek Seed Extract

Lina A Naser Al-Timimi  1
Affiliations

Antibacterial and Anticancer Activities of Fenugreek Seed Extract

Lina A Naser Al-Timimi. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. .

Abstract

This work is about the utilization of fenugreek seed as an antibacterial and anticancer agents. The antibacterial activity of fenugreek seed extract on six pathological bacteria strains were specified through conventional biochemical tests using the Vitek2 automated system and diffusion agar method. The anticancer activities of fenugreek seed extract, on MCF-7 breast cancer cells, liver cancer HCAM cells and the non-cancerous Vero cell lines, were investigated using colorimetric MTT assay. Results showed that the highest activity of the extract of the seed was found on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (22 mm and 17 mm diameter of inhibition zones respectively). The seed extract showed proliferative inhibition on MCF-7 cell line at a concentration of 400 µg/ml and 72 h of the incubation period. This was accompanied by insignificant apoptosis or necrosis. The seed extract showed no anticancer effect on liver and Vero cell lines. This work emphasizes that fenugreek seed extract is a potential source of antibacterial and anticancer agents.<br />.

Keywords: Antibacterial effect; Fenugreek seed; Pathogenic bacteria; breast cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Antimicrobial Activity of Different Concentrations of 125, 250, 500 And 1,000 µG/Ml Ethanol and Aqueous Fenugreek Seed Extract on Bacterial after Incubation For 24h
Figure 2
Figure 2
Antimicrobial Activity of Ethanol Fenugreek Seed Extract on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Muller-Hinton Agar
Figure 3
Figure 3
Vero cell line. A, Control under light microscope (magnified at 10x); B, After treated with different concentrations of 400, 600, 800 and 1,000 µg/ml ethanol fenugreek seed extract after 72 h under light microscope (magnified at 10x); C, After treated with different concentrations of 400, 600, 800 and 1,000 µg/ml ethanol fenugreek seed extract after 72 h pigmented with the AO/PI. Notice there is no effect on the cell after treated. Viewed under 690 wavelength of the fluorescent microscope light microscope (magnified at 10x)
Figure 4
Figure 4
A, Genomic DNA isolated from MCF-7 cell line after being treated with different concentrations of 400, 600,800 and 1000 µg/ml ethanol fenugreek seed extract after 72 h; B, The ladder used its range from 100-2,000 (bp)
Figure 5
Figure 5
Human breast cancer cells (MCF7). A and B, Control viewed under light microscope the magnification force for A is 10x and 40x for B; C and D, MCF-7 cells treated with ethanol fenugreek seed extract at a concentration of 400 µg/ml and 72 h pigmented with the AO/PI, notice their color green only. Shown by the 690 wavelength of the fluorescent microscope, the magnification force is 10x for C and 40x for D
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alwan AM, Jassim IM, Jasim GM. Study of antibacterial activities of seed extract of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) Diyala J Med. 2017;13:1.
    1. Alwan N. Iraqi initiative of a regional comparative breast cancer research project in the Middle East. J Cancer Biol Res. 2014;2:1016–20.
    1. Alwan NA. Breast cancer: Demographic characteristics and clinico-pathological presentation of patients in Iraq. East Mediterr Health J. 2010;16:1159–64. - PubMed
    1. Amenu D. Antimicrobial activity of medicinal plant extract and their synergistic effect on some selected pathogens. Amer J Ethno Med. 2014;1:18–29.
    1. Amin A, Alkaabi A, Al-Falasi S, Daoud SA. Chemopreventive activities of Trigonella foenum graecum (Fenugreek) against breast cancer. Cell Biol Int. 2005;29:687–94. - PubMed