In vitro antifungal activity and probable fungicidal mechanism of aqueous extract of Barleria grandiflora.

Barleria grandiflora Dalz. (Acanthaceae) is being used in India to treat different types of disorders including skin infections. Therefore, there are good possibilities to find antifungal compounds in its extracts with novel mechanism of action. The main objectives of the present study were to evaluate the antifungal activity of plant extracts and to study its effects on metabolic pathways of A. fumigatus. The microbroth dilution assay was used to explore antifungal activity and MIC of various extracts. Metabolic profiles of control and treated cultures were collected from Q-TOF-MS interfaced with HPLC. Affected metabolic pathways of A. fumigatus after the treatment were analyzed by discrimination analysis of mass data. Antifungal activities were observed in hot and cold water extracts of the plant. Hot water extract of B. grandiflora showed significant activity against tested fungi in the range 0.625-1.25 mg/mL. Partial least discrimination analysis revealed that the hot water plant extract downregulated amino acid, glyoxylate pathway, and methylcitrate pathways at the same time due to the synergistic effects of secondary metabolites. Hot water extract also downregulated several other metabolic pathways unique to fungi indicating its specific activity toward fungi. B. grandiflora showed promising antifungal activity which can further be exploited by identification of active compounds, to inhibit the specific fungal pathways and development of novel therapeutic antifungal drugs.

Nontargeted Identification of the Phenolic and Other Compounds of Saraca asoca by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Positive Electrospray Ionization and Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry.

High performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer was used for separation and identification of phenolic and other compounds in the water extracts of Saraca asoca (Roxb.), De. Wilde. The aim of the study was to identify and evaluate the distribution of phenolic compounds in the different parts of the plant. The identity of compounds was established through the comparison with standards and characteristic base peaks as well as other daughter ions. In crude extracts, 34 catechin derivatives, 34 flavonoids, and 17 other compounds were identified. Interestingly, further analysis of compounds showed plant part specific unique pattern of metabolites; that is, regenerated bark is observed to be the best source for catechin/catechin derivative while flowers were found to be the source for wide variety of flavonoids. Moreover, these plant part specific compounds can be used as biomarkers for the identification of plant material or herbal drugs. Overall, the present study provides for the first time a comprehensive analysis of the phenolic components of this herb which may be helpful not only to understand their usage but also to contribute to quality control as well.