Assessment of Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activity of methanolic extract from Arnebia decumbens aerial parts growing wild in Aja Mountain

Background: Many plants are a rich source of secondary metabolites with potential antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Amongst the customary plant herbs used as a phytomedicine in Hail province, which has been selected for the current study, Kehail plant, Arnebia decumbens (A. decumbens). Therefore, this study sought to assess the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities against high-risk bacteria and yeasts.Methods: The cup plate agar diffusion methods and Microdilution assays were adopted with minor modifications to assess the antibacterial activity. The Qualitative and quantitative tests were employed to assess the Kehail antioxidant activities by determining its phytochemicals, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ABTS(2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), and β-carotene in vitro assays.Results: The results indicated that methanolic Kehail extract (M.K.E.) exhibited antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococcus epidermidis (M13), Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli ATCC 10536 and Klebsiella pneumoniae, while the mean inhibition zone was 10.66 ± 0.57 mm, 10.77 ± 0.57735 mm, 10.33 ± 0.57 mm, and 9.55 ± 0.57 mm, respectively. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity increased in a concentration-dependent manner. Indeed, E. cloacae were the plant extract most inhibited bacteria. The plant extract has vigorous antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 10231 and C. tropicalis ATCC 9362, whereas the mean inhibition zone was 12.77 ± 0.57 and 13.11 ± 1.52 mm, respectively. The extract of A. decumbens plant was also proven to be efficient as a source of antioxidants saponins, terpenes, polyphenols, and flavonoids.Conclusion: The acquired outcomes uncover promising antioxidant activities of the tested Kehail methanolic extract. The study encourages the separation of active components and the development of new medications from the Kehail plant.Keywords: Arnebia decumbens; Methanolic extract; Disk diffusion assay; Microdilution assay; Antioxidant activities Editorial Expression of Concern20 June 2025: Following publication of this paper, the internal audit (consequent to concerns on quality raised by Web of Science) notified Advancements in Life Sciences about suspected plagiarism. By this Editorial Expression of Concern, we alert the scientific community of the errors as we reconcile the records.Editorial Note26 June 2025: Similar usage sequence of commonly used scientific terms, names of species and chemicals have been found as major sources of total verbatim similarity (23%). Therefore, it may not be considered as plagiarism. High incidence of plagiarism reported earlier was false as it took content published after publication of this article into account when calculating similarity index during re-analysis. Hence, the Editorial Expression of Concern is revoked.