https://doi.org/10.37229/fsa.fjas.2025.10.25

Grewia tenax (GT) belongs to the Tiliaceae family and is referred to locally in various Arab regions as Qadeem or Wild Red, while its scientific nomenclature is Qreno Tinx. This species exhibits a high concentration of antioxidants. The primary objective of this research was to isolate phenolic compounds present in Grewia tenax (GT) utilizing absolute methanol; the antioxidant activity was evaluated through two methodologies: Folin-Ciocalteu indexes (FCI), which assess total phenolic compounds (TPC) with gallic acid serving as a standard reference, and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, where ascorbic acid was employed as a benchmark. The findings indicate that the FCI demonstrates that the phenolic compounds extracted from (GT) range from 1076.5 to 4841.5mg GAE/g of extract, where (GAE) signifies gallic acid equivalent. It was noted that the phenolic compounds possess a substantial capability to transform the stable free radical DPPH into diphenylpicrylhydrazine, characterized by a yellow hue, with the optimal IC50 value recorded at 4379.43µg/ml. The antioxidant capacity, compared to ascorbic acid, was found to be 4088.93 μg/ml, representing the highest effectiveness at a concentration of 5000 mg/ml of the extract, while the lowest efficacy was observed at a concentration of 1000 mg/ml. The extract was evaluated against several bacterial strains, including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Proteus spp. The results indicate that varying concentrations of the extract significantly inhibited the proliferation of the selected pathogenic microorganisms. The investigation disclosed that Grewia tenax (GT) contains substantial quantities of phenolic compounds, which were identified as the principal contributors to its antioxidant properties, and the extract exhibited low to moderate antibacterial activity. Therefore, it can be inferred that Grewia tenax (GT) holds the potential for the development of compounds that may facilitate the creation of novel and more efficacious anticancer therapeutics.