The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021); National funding by FCT, P.I., through
the individual scientific employment program contract for L. Barros, A. Fernandes, M.I. Dias and
C. Pereira. This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and Aga Khan
Development Network (AKDN) under the project CVAgrobiodiversity/333111699.
The use of medicinal plants in a variety of health conditions remains essential for the
discovery of new treatments. The present study aimed to investigate the bioactive properties of three
native plants from Cabo Verde Islands, namely Artemisia gorgonum Webb, Sideroxylon marginatum
(Decne. ex Webb) Cout., and Tamarix senegalensis DC., contributing to the characterization of less-
known medicinal plants and their potential benefits for human health. Known compounds, such
as kaempferol, quercetin, caffeyolquinic, and apigenin derivatives, among others, were detected
in the plant species under study. Overall, all species demonstrated good antioxidant capacity,
especially the ethanolic extracts of A. gorgonum (EC50 = 0.149 mg/mL) in TBARS assay. Moreover, the
ethanolic extracts of the studied plants showed cytotoxic properties against tumor cells, and again
the A. gorgonum extract proved to be the most effective in inhibiting tumor growth, mainly in the
CaCO2 (GI50 = 17.3 μg/mL) and AGS (GI50 = 18.2 μg/mL) cell lines. Only the ethanolic extracts of
T. senegalensis and S. marginatum demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity, albeit weak (EC50 = 35 and
43 μg/mL, respectively). The present study contributed to increased knowledge about the bioactive
properties of these plants commonly used in traditional medicine, some of which was discussed for
the first time, opening new perspectives for their use in a wider range of health conditions, especially
in African countries, where access to modern health care is more limited.
