Bioactivity screening and molecular identification of L. sunflower crud extract for antioxidant, antiviral, antimicrobial, and anticancer properties.

The current study evaluates hot water sunflower extracts at 40 °C temperature (AMSE40) for their antibacterial, anti-biofilm, antiviral and anticancer activities. AMSE40 exhibited excellent antioxidant activity with an IC50 of 1.17 mg/mL (ascorbic acid) and was found to be rich in phytochemical compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, saponins, and tannins, with concentrations of 1.23%, 351.60 mg/g, 152.50 mg/g, 0.98%, and 146.35 mg/g, respectively. AMSE40 showed strong antibacterial and anti-biofilm activity against four multidrug-resistant isolates, comprising , , , and with minimum bactericidal concentrations (25 mg/mL) and minimum inhibitory concentrations (12.5 mg/mL) for all isolates. The AMSE40 (62.5 µg/mL) showed antiviral efficacy against CoxB4 (9.1%) and HSV-1 (34.4%). Additionally, AMSE40 induced DNA fragmentation in liver cell lines, indicating cell death. The cytotoxic concentration of AMSE40 had a mild impact on Vero (283.2 µg) and HepG2 cells (76.4 µg). has the potential to serve as a natural and eco-friendly source for innovative pharmaceutical and medical applications.