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Purpose: To evaluate the phytochemical profile of methanol extract of Ephedra foeminea and assess its anti-carcer effect on a large set of normal and cancerous cell lines. Methods: Extraction of air-dried powder of aerial parts of E. foeminea was carried out with methanol. The bioactive compounds in the extract were determined using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The anti-cancer effect of the extract was determined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay against various types of normal and cancer cell lines. Serial concentrations of plant extract were used, ranging from 7.812 to1000 μg/mL. Doxorubicin (DOX) served as standard drug. The half-maximal concentration (IC50) values of the extract and DOX for each cell line were determined, and the selectivity index (SI) was computed. Results: Phytochemical analysis showed that the extract contained several bioactive compounds, including alkaloids, flavonoids, sterols and fatty acids. The hazardous ephedra alkaloids (ephedrine and pseudoephedrine) were absent in the plant extract. The extract showed significant anti-proliferative activity against cancer cell lines, when compared with the positive control, doxorubicin (p < 0.05). Selective and concentration-dependent cytotoxicity was exhibited in cancer cell lines of breast (MCF-7), lung (A549), colon (Caco-2), liver (HepG-2) and prostate (PC-3). Weak selectivity was produced in other cancer cell lines, i.e., human epithelioma (Hep-2) and cervical carcinoma (Hela). Interestingly, non-cancerous cells showed no or weak cytotoxicity. Conclusion: Ephedra foeminea exerts potential selectivity in anti-proliferative effect against some cancer cell lines. Thus, it is a promising drug source for the production of new and selective anti-cancer medicines.

The ability of selected manganese peroxidase (MnP) yeast strains, isolated from the mixed liquor of an activated sludge bioreactor treating melanoidins wastewater, was investigated in this work, aiming to examine the degradation potential of melanoidins, in the presence or absence of nutrients. Ten yeast strains were initially isolated from the mixed liquor; four yeast strains (Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4) were selected for further studies, based on their tolerance towards synthetic melanoidins (SMs) degradation and MnP activity onto solid agar medium. The Y1 strain exhibited almost 98% homology to Candida glabrata yeast, based on 28S rRNA identification studies. During experiments carried out using SM at 30 °C, the four isolated yeast cultures showed a noticeable organic matter reduction and decolorization capacity reaching up to 70% within 2–5 days. However, the corresponding yeast cultures grown in glucose peptone yeast extract medium using real melanoidin wastewater at 30°C showed lower organic matter and color removal capacity, reaching about 60% within 2–5 days. Nevertheless, it was found that the removal of real and synthetic melanoidins could be carried out by these strains under non-aseptic conditions, without requiring further addition of nutrients.