The chemical components, cytotoxic effect, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Phragmites australis aerial parts 70% aqueous ethanolic extract were examined. Its chromatographic techniques were employed to identify polar and non-polar components in the extract. Chromatographic and chemical investigations of its extract revealed the existence of 2 phenolic acids, 2 C- glycoside flavones, 4 flavones, 10 flavonoids and 4 flavanone which were isolated for the first time from its aerial parts. Their structures were deduced via detailed spectroscopic interpretation. All 22 isolated compounds were tentatively identified using LC–ESI–MS. The ethanolic extract was used for preparation silver nano particles producing them less than 20 nm.

P. australis extract and its AgNPs were tested for antioxidant activity which showed that AgNPs extract reduced antioxidant activity by 33% as compared to P. australis extract (69%) while that of vitamin C (81%).

The two extracts were tested in vitro against human cancer cells A431, PC3, HCT116, and the normal cell line BJ1 (normal skin fibroblast) using doxorubicin as the reference medication were revealed that all of the examined samples had a modest to no cytotoxic effect on the cancer cells tested.

Finally, the antimicrobial results for both extracts showed a significant influence with some fluctuation depending on the strain type.