Abstract

'Rumex dentatus L'. (Polygonaceae) plant is an annual or biennial herb, often grows wildly in moist areas, it is also known as introduced species that is, living outside its nativedistributional range. Chemical products and biological activity has been studied in the Egyptian R. dentatus, grown in Suez desert of Egypt. Chemical composition and biological activity of R. dentatus plants grow in Suez desert were verified in relation to R. dentatusplants grow elsewhere. Chemical fractionation of a methanolic extract of R. dentatus wasperformed using column chromatography. Cytotoxicity and antitumor effects were cheched through viability estimation of Ehrlich ascites carcinomaa cells in female Swiss albino mice. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated using disc diffusion method. In addition, all antioxidant enzymes were determined spectrophotometrically. Six flavonol gycosides were detected. The cytotoxic activity revealed weak inhibition of carcinoma cell line growth but exhibited variable anticancer activity at elevated concentrations. The antimicrobial activity was moderate and the antioxidant enzymes activity was generally low. We concluded thatR. dentatus plants grown at different environments have differential chemical composition and hence varied biological activities.

Key words: Rumex dentatus, flavonol, antioxidants, anti-tumor, antimicrobial.