Nutrient Composition and In Vitro Anti-proliferative Effects of Different Extracts of Red Poppy (Fam: Papaveraceae, Glaucium grandiflorum Boiss.&Huet var. grandiflorum) Plants

Red poppy, belongs to Papaveraceae family and it is a quite widespread annual plant worldwide. Green leaves of red poppy plants are either fried or consumed as fresh in salads. It is also widely used in folk medicine. Yellow ones are believed to be well for inflammatory diseases and red ones are believed to be strong antioxidant and anti-carcinogen. In this study, nutrient concentrations of red poppy (Glaucium grandiflorum Boiss.&Huet var. grandiflorum) plants, quite widespread in Turkey and used in folk medicine for treatment of various diseases were determined. Anticarcinogenic, antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of water, and ethanol extracts of the plants were also investigated. Cytotoxic effects of the plants were assessed through breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7) and the effects on healthy cells were compared by using Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC). Cell proliferation tests were conducted spectrophotometrically at 450-500 nm by using XTT kit. Nutrient concentrations of red poppy plants were determined as follows: 3.25% N, 0.110% P, 2.13% K, 0.44% Ca, 0.10% Mg, 205.9 mg Fe kg-1, 21.1 mg Zn kg-1, 22.7 mg Mn kg-1 and 6.1 mg Cu kg-1. Plants did not have any anti-proliferative impacts on human healthy endothelial cells. They had moderate growth-inhibiting effect on MCF-7 cells. On the other hand, in-cell antioxidant activities were determined through total antioxidant (TAS) and total oxidant (TOS) tests. Antimicrobial effects were put forth through finding MIC values on several gram positive, gram negative and fungus strains. Low antimicrobial effect levels were observed