Anti-microbial and anti-cancer efficacy of acetone extract of Rosa chinensis against resistant strain and lung cancer cell line

BACKGROUND: Screening of herbal plants for various therapeutic properties is the hour as it shows promising activity. Scientific evidence of the pharmacological activity of the plant strengthens the traditional application of plants. METHODS: Rose flowers (Rosa chinensis) were procured and grounded into a coarse powder. The DNA was isolated from rose flower and molecular identification was performed by rbcL-BF and rbcL-724R primers. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by using disc and agar diffusion methods and the anti-cancer effect of the rose flower extract (RE) was examined using MTT assay in lung cancer cell line. The mechanism of cell death induced by RE was qualitatively measured using Acridine orange/Ethidium bromide staining and Hoechst staining. GC-MS analysis was performed using GC-MS-5975C. RESULT: The RE showed potent antimicrobial activity against various ATCC cultures. The rose extract strongly inhibits the growth of ESBL resistant organism along with inhibition of biofilm formation in the ESBL resistant organism. The extract caused apoptotic and necrotic cell death in lung cancer cells. GC-MS analysis demonstrated the presence of several biologically active compounds such as Clindamycin, Phytol, Octanoic acid, and Stigmasterol which might be the reason for the therapeutic properties of the plant. CONCLUSION: This study shows the antimicrobial and biofilm inhibition activity against the clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumonia. The study shows the cytotoxic and apoptotic activity in A549 cancer cell line. Thus, the plant may act as a potent antimicrobial drug against resistant strains. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12906-023-04222-2.