Phytochemical Screening of Selected Cholistani Plants and Their Biological Activities by In-Vitro Assays

Abstract

There is a surge of appeal with taking naturally occurring compounds extracted from plants to develop treatments that can combat infections. These plant-based extracts and compounds possess the ability to act as potent agents against harmful pathogens thereby opening new opportunities for treating diseases. Consequently, there is a growing preference for natural medicines which are typically milder, more economical and less toxic than their synthetic counterparts. This study ventures to investigate the antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity, enzyme inhibition activity and phytochemical constituents of methanolic extracts of Zaleya pentandra (L.) Jaffery (Aizoaceae) and Lasiurus scindicus (Henr.) (Poaceae) that are medicinally used by herbalists from the Cholistan region, Pakistan for the treatment of bacterial infections, cough, colds, kidney stones, UTIs, gastrointestinal disorders and as anti-venom. In vitro biological assays were used to test antibacterial (Agar disc diffusion), antioxidant (DPPH) and enzyme inhibition (urease) capabilities. Qualitative phytochemical analysis was performed to determine the important components. The antibacterial efficacy of organic crude extracts of Z. pentandra and L. scindicus towards bacterial strains is notable. Alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids and phenols were present in both plants, although the methanolic extract of both Z. pentandra and L. scindicus conspicuously lacked the presence of glycosides. Organic crude extracts of Z. pentandra and L. scindicus exhibited moderate antioxidant activity (41.86% and 54.28% respectively) with standard (Ascorbic Acid) scoring 84.05% but high in anti-urease activity (96.42% and 98.36% respectively) in comparison to the standard (Thiourea) used 95.83%. It is also evident from the study that organic crude extracts of Z. pentandra and L. scindicus were rich in nutrients that added value to the specifically selected medicinal plants to retain them in use in ethnomedicine.