Cytotoxicity and phytochemical profiles of Phyllanthus emblica stem barks with in silico drug-likeliness: Focusing on antidiabetic potentials.

Out of numerous reported medicinal plants, Phyllanthus emblica has been reported to possess a strong antidiabetic potential and other pharmacological effects. This research aimed to identify the phytoconstituents in the extracts of P. emblica stem barks and hypothesize their antidiabetic potentials based on in silico drug-likeliness. Simplicia of P. emblica powder was sequentially macerated at room temperature (24 h) using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol solvents. Phytochemical profiles of the extract were investigated qualitatively using reagents, followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. All phytocompounds were then analyzed for their pharmacological properties and predicted bioactivities on molinspiration. Cytotoxicity of each extract was evaluated using the brine shrimp lethality test. As many as 18 compounds (from GC-MS), were identified in all extract samples from P. emblica stem barks. Based on in silico drug-likeliness, methanol extract contained the most potentially bioactive compounds (16α-hydroxycleroda-3,13 (14) Z-dien-15,16-olide; 14-. beta.-H-pregna; and isochiapin B). Isochiapin B was revealed as the only compound that had no violation of the rule of five. All three compounds could hypothetically contribute to the antidiabetic activity of the methanol extract from P. emblica stem barks by inhibiting diabetes-related enzymes and interacting with nuclear receptors. Moderate cytotoxicity of ethyl acetate and methanol extract, respectively, further suggests their bioactivities.

Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of n-hexane extract and its fractions from Blumea balsamifera L. leaves.

Blumea balsamifera is a plant species that has been popularly used to treat a broad spectrum of diseases. In efforts of tackling the increasing threat of cancers, B. balsamifera has been studied for its anticancer potentials. Hence, through this research, we aimed to evaluate the antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of n-hexane extract from B. balsamifera L. leaves along with its fractionation products. After the n-hexane extract has been obtained, the sample was column chromatographed using gradient elution with n-hexane:ethyl acetate solvent. All the isolation protocols produced 1 n-hexane extract and 10 different fractions (fractions 1-10). Antioxidant and antiproliferative effects of the samples were assessed based on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and brine shrimp lethality test assay, respectively. None of the samples have a strong antioxidant level because all samples yielded IC50 of more than 100 ppm - the best of them was fraction 8 with IC50 = 113.716 ppm. On contrary, most of the samples were observed to have a potent antiproliferative effect, especially fraction 8 with LC50 = 2.00 ppm. Taken altogether, fraction 8 from the n-hexane extract of B. balsamifera L. leaves is the most potential candidate for proliferative disease therapy, where further studies confirming the results are required.

In-Vitro Screenings for Biological and Antioxidant Activities of Water Extract from Theobroma cacao L. Pod Husk: Potential Utilization in Foods.

Increasing production of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) leads to a higher environmental burden due to its solid waste generation. Cocoa pod husk, one of the major solid wastes of cocoa production, contains rich bioactive compounds unveiling its valorization potential. With that in mind, our research aimed to explore the biological and antioxidant activities of aqueous extracts from cocoa pod husks. In this present work, cocoa pod husk was extracted using water and subsequentially partitioned using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol. The antimicrobial investigation revealed that the ethyl acetate solubles were active against the Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans, where at a 20% w/v concentration, the inhibition diameters were 6.62 ± 0.10, 6.52 ± 0.02, and 11.72 ± 0.36 mm, respectively. The extracts were found non-toxic proven by brine shrimp lethality tests against Artemia salina with LC50 scores ranging from 74.1 to 19,054.6 µg/mL. The total phenolic content and total flavonoid content were obtained in the range of 47.44 to 570.44 mg/g GAE and 1.96 to 4.34 mg/g QE, respectively. Antioxidant activities of the obtained extracts were revealed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) assay with EC50 reached as low as 9.61 µg/mL by the ethyl acetate soluble. Phytochemical screening based on gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy analysis on the sample with the highest antioxidant activities revealed the dominant presence of three phytosterols, namely gamma-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol.

Lignan compound isolated from n-Hexane extract myristica fragrans Houtt root as antioxidant and antitumor activities against MCF-7 cell lines data.

Nutmeg plant (Myristica fragrans Houtt) is known as one of traditional medicine. The nutmeg root has a strong potential in antioxidant and anticancer agents among other nutmeg plant parts. The n-hexane root extract has been carried out by thin-layer chromatography and obtained 8 fractions (labeled as Myristica fragrans Houtt Root: MFHR 1 - 8). Specifically, the MFHR 4 has been purified for several times to obtain a yellow-brown color. Furthermore, lignan compound 6'-methyl-(7­hydroxy-8-methylbut-9-en)-3,2'-dimethoxybiphenyl-4,5-diol) was identified with chemical formula of C20H24O5 and analyzed using UV-vis spectroscopy, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Based on MTT assay, MFHR demonstrated moderate anticancer activity against MCF-7 cell lines of 51.95 µM, meanwhile, DPPH activity confirmed the strong antioxidant activity with IC50 value of 12.67 ppm.

Macrophylloflavone: A New Biflavonoid from Garcinia macrophylla Mart. (Clusiaceae) for Antibacterial, Antioxidant, and Anti-Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Activities.

Investigations of antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-type 2 diabetes mellitus activities have been carried out on Garcinia macrophylla Mart. plant extract fractions. An isolate from a fraction of ethyl acetate extract was characterized with spectroscopic data. A new biflavonoid compound was found to have a skeleton of 5,7,4',5″,7″,3‴,4‴-heptahydroxyflavanone[3-6″] flavones which was named macrophylloflavone (1). The compound was evaluated for its antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 with cephazolin as a positive control, antioxidant assay against 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) with ascorbic acid as the positive control, and anti-type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment with metformin as a positive control. The biflavonoid compound exhibited a good inhibition for bacteria and free radical DPPH. Furthermore, biflavonoid compound treatment on the diabetic rats suggested its ability to decrease the blood glucose level. This study provided evidence that the plant has antibacterial, antioxidant, and antidiabetic properties.

New Phenyl Propanoids from Cryptocarya bracteolata.

Two new phenyl propanoids were extracted from the bark of Cryptocarya bracteolate Gamb., ethyl 3-(2'-hydroxy-3',4',5'-trimethoxyphenyl) propanoate (1) and ethyl 3-(2'-glucosyl-3',4',5'-trimethoxyphenyl)propanoate (2), together with seven known alkaloids, (+)-lirioferine (3), (+)-bracteoline (4), (+)-reticuline (5), (+)-reticulineN-oxide (6), (-)-norargemonine (7), (+)-bisnorargemonine (8) and atherolin (9). The structures of compounds were established through several spectroscopic methods; 1D and 2D-NMR, UV, IR and MS.

New phenantrene alkaloids from Cryptocarya crassinervia.

The bark of Cryptocarya crassinervia provided two new phenantrene alkaloids, 2-hydroxyatherosperminine (1) and N-demethyl-2-methoxyatherosperminine (2).