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Ziziphus spina-christi (Rhamnaceae family) is a medicinal plant traditionally used to treat dandruff, wounds, hair loss, diarrhea, mastitis, abdominal pain, and gastrointestinal complications. To support this, the present work aims to study the in vitro antibacterial and antioxidant activities of compound isolates from the roots of Ziziphus spina-christi along with their in silico computational analyses. Compounds were isolated on silica gel column chromatography and an agar disc diffusion and DPPH radical scavenging assays were employed to study the antibacterial and antioxidant activities, respectively. The ADME and toxicity properties of the compounds were evaluated using SwissADME and ProTox‐II online Web tools, respectively. Conversely, the in silico molecular docking studies were attained via a Biovia Discovery Studio Visualizer 2021 in combination with the AutoDock Vina software. The silica gel chromatographic separation of the combined CH2Cl2 : CH3OH (1 : 1) and CH3OH root extracts afforded trimethyl trilinolein (1), stearic acid (2), 13‐hydroxyoctadeca‐9, 11‐dienoic acid (3), β‐sitosteryl‐3β‐glucopyranoside‐6′‐O‐palmitate (4), and stigmasterol (5). Notably, the in vitro antibacterial study revealed the extract and β‐sitosteryl‐3β‐glucopyranoside‐6′‐O‐palmitate (4) with the highest inhibitory activities (15.25 ± 0.35 and 14.25 ± 0.35 mm, respectively) against E. coli compared to ciprofloxacin (21.00 ± 0.35 mm) at 2 mg/mL. The CH2Cl2 : CH3OH (1 : 1) extract (IC50 : 1.51 µg/mL) and β‐sitosteryl‐3β‐glucopyranoside‐6′‐O‐palmitate (4) (IC50 : 5.41 µg/mL) also exhibited auspicious DPPH scavenging activities, followed by stigmasterol (5) (IC50 : 6.88 µg/mL) compared to the ascorbic acid standard (IC50 : 0.46 µg/mL). The molecular docking analyses unveiled the highest binding affinity by β‐sitosteryl‐3β‐glucopyranoside‐6′‐O‐palmitate (4) (−8.0 kcal/mol) against P. aeruginosa PqsA relative to the ciprofloxacin standard (−8.2 kcal/mol). Furthermore, the organ toxicity predictions showed that all the compounds exhibit no hepatotoxicity and cytotoxicity effects and stigmasterol (5) affords drug‐likeness protocols. Overall, the combined experimental and computational investigations of this study support the traditional uses of Ziziphus spina-christi for antibacterial and natural antioxidant applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plant Hydnora johannis has been utilized in folk medicine. Analyzing phytochemical composition of dichloromethane/methanol (1 : 1) root part of Hydnora johannis gave oleic acid (1), caffeic acid‐2‐hydroxynonylester (2), catechin (3), and a pregnane derivative (4). NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize compounds 1–3, while compound 4 was identified through GC‐MS analysis and literature comparison. The cytotoxicity of extracts from roots of H. johannis was conducted against MCF‐7 cell lines (human breast cancer) by MTT assay. According to the cytotoxicity study, n‐hexane extract exhibited a high level of toxicity with 28.9 ± 5.6% cell viability. Antibacterial activity was tested against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pyogen. The highest bacterial growth mean inhibition zone was measured for catechin (3) (13.72 ± 0.05 mm)) against P. aeruginosa at 0.25 mg/mL and acceptable related to standard. Antioxidant activity was studied by the DPPH assay. Based on the data from the antioxidant study, DCM/MeOH extract (70.32%) and catechin (3) showed good antioxidant activity (65.61%) (IC50 0.25 μg/mL) relative to that of the positive control (78.21%, IC50 0.014 μg/mL) at 12.5 μg/mL. In each docking pose, catechin (3) scored higher binding affinity of −7.9, −7.2, and −6.4 kcal/mol towards PqsA, DNA gyraseB, and S. aureus PK, respectively, compared to amoxicillin (−8.1, −6.1, and −6.4 kcal/mol). All five Lipinski rules were obeyed by compounds 1–3, which showed an acceptable drug resemblance. The lipophilicity was computed as less than five (1.47–4.01) indicating a lipophilic property. Catechin (3) obeys Veber's rule implying its good oral bioavailability. Binding affinity scores of catechin (3)‐protein interactions are in line with those from in vitro tests, indicating its potential antibacterial effect. The obtained cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity results support the utilization of H. johannis in folk medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, the chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant potencies of essential oils (EOs) extracted from the leaves and roots of Cyphostemma adenocaule and Ziziphus spinachristi were evaluated. Hydrodistillation was used to extract the EOs and the chemical compositions were analyzed by GC-MS. The antibacterial activity of the EOs were evaluated against four bacterial strains by agar disc diffusion method. Moreover, the antioxidant properties were evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay method. Perillyl alcohol (13.08%) and phytone (12.64%) were the major compounds detected in the leaves and roots of Cyphostemma adenocaule respectively. Whereas, nootkatone was the principal compound detected in the leaves (30.12%) and roots (26.52%) of Ziziphus spinachristi. The antibacterial activity results showed that, the EOs of Cyphostemma adenocaule and Ziziphus spinachristi displayed the highest inhibition zones against Streptococcus pyogenes (13.67 ± 0.34 and 12.67 ± 0.10 mm respectively) at 10 mg/mL. The antioxidant activity of the EOs were also promising, and the strongest IC50 value (4.15 µg/mL) was calculated for Ziziphus spinachristi (leaves). Thus, the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of the EOs enlighten the use of these plants for the aforementioned activities and as a common ingredients in cosmetic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing prevalence of drug resistance, adverse side effects of existing antibiotics, and the resurgence of previously known infections have necessitated the search for new, safe, and effective antimicrobial agents. The peels of Citrus sinensis L. (300 g) were extracted using maceration and ultrasonic-assisted extraction methods with ethanol, resulting in yields of 20.99 g and 11.5 g (7%, 7.5%), respectively. Silica gel column chromatographic separation of the ethanol extract yielded N-(1,3,4,5-tetrahydroxydecan-2-y1) octanamide (1), decanoic acid (2), β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside derivative (3), and (z)-ethyl tetradec-7-enoate (4). GC-MS analysis of the essential oil detected 7 chemical components accounting for 99.84% of the total composition of which limonene was found to be the predominant constituent (87.5%). In vitro antibacterial tests revealed promising zones of inhibition by ethanol extract (12.67±0.58 mm, at 150 mg/mL), compound 4 (15.67±2.88 mm, at 6 mg/mL), and compound 1 (12.00±0.00 mm, at 6 mg/mL) against E. faecalis, S. typhimurium, and P. aeruginosa, respectively, compared to gentamicin (13.00±1.73 mm, 18.00±1.00 mm, and 16.67±1.15 mm, respectively at 10 µg/mL). DPPH radical scavenging activity indicated that compound 1 exhibited an IC50 value of 0.05 mg/mL, compared to ascorbic acid's 0.016 mg/mL. In silico molecular docking studies revealed that compounds 1 and 3 had the lowest scoring poses against E. coli DNA gyrase B enzyme, human peroxiredoxin 5, and S. aureus pyruvate kinase, respectively. These findings support traditional applications of Citrus peels in treating infectious diseases, particularly against Gram-positive strains, and highlight their potential use as antibacterial ingredients in cosmetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crinum abyssinicum and Calotropis procera were traditionally used for the treatment of different diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, hepatitis B, skin infection, anticancer, asthma, fever, and diarrhea. The structures of the compounds were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and DEPT-135 spectra. Compounds 1- 3 were reported herein for the first time from the species of C. abyssinicum. The DCM/MeOH (1:1) and MeOH roots extracts of C. abyssinicum showed significant inhibitory activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa with a mean inhibition zone of 16.67 ± 1.20 and 16.33 ± 0.33 mm, respectively. Compounds 4 and 5 showed promising activity against E. coli with a mean inhibition zone of 17.7 ± 0.8 and 17.7 ± 1.2 mm, respectively. The results of DPPH activity showed the DCM: MeOH (1:1) and MeOH roots extracts of C. abyssinicum inhibited the DPPH radical by 52.86 ± 0.24 % and 45.6 ± 0.11 %, respectively, whereas compound 5 displayed 85.7 % of inhibition. The drug-likeness analysis showed that compounds 2-4 satisfy Lipinski's rule of five with zero violations. Compounds 2, and 6 showed binding affinities of -6.0, and -6.7 kcal/mol against E. coli DNA gyrase B, respectively, while 3 and 5 showed -5.0 and -5.0 kcal/mol, respectively against human peroxiredoxin 5. Therefore, the in vitro antibacterial, radical scavenging activity along with the molecular docking analysis suggest the potential use of the extracts of C. abyssinicum and compounds 2, 5, 6, and 3, 5 can be considered as promising antibacterial agents and free radical scavengers, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essential oil compositions of Gladiolus candidus, Ranunculus multifidus, Artemisia abyssinica and Crinum abyscinicum were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The principal components in the leaves, stems and rhizomes of G. candidus were eudesmol, 1-naphthalenepropanol and oleic acid, respectively. α-Terpineol, alloocimene and p-menth-2-en-1-ol from leaves, bulbs and roots were respectively the major constituents of C. abyscinicum. The aerial part of R. multifidus furnished p-mentha-2,8-dien-1-ol. Linalool and terpinenol were identified as the major constituents of A. abyssinica. The essential oils were evaluated for their antibacterial activity. Essential oil from leaves of G. candidus displayed zone of inhibition (IZ) of 15.1±0.3 and 16.7±0.9 mm against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. Leaves essential oil of C. abyscinicum exhibited IZ of 17.9±1.1 and 15.6±1.1 mm against E. coli and P. aeruginosa, respectively, whereas essential oil from aerial part of R. multifidus displayed IZ of 18.8±0.8 and 19.4±0.6 mm against S. aureus and S. pyogens, respectively. At the same concentration, ceftriaxone showed IZ of 15.1±0.1, 16.2±0.8, 14.3±0.9 and 16.1±2.5mm against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and S. pyogens, respectively. The findings presented herein support the ethnobotanical uses of these plants against bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhynchosia ferruginea (Udusalim, Afan Oromo) is a medicinal plant traditionally used to treat skin infection, intestinal problems and amoebiasis. Silica gel chromatographic separation of dichloromethane/methanol (1:1) roots extract yielded isoflavan (1), isoflavene (2) and 1, 3-dilinoleoyl-2-stearoylglycerol (3), reported herein for the first time from the genus. Antibacterial activity was examined using disc diffusion method against E. coli, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and S. pyogenes. AutoDoc vina 4.2 software was used for molecular docking analysis of compounds against human peroxiredoxin 5 and DNA gyrase B enzymes. Isoflavan (1) displayed zone of inhibition of 9.67 ± 0.58 mm and 10.67 ± 0.58 mm whereas isoflavene (2) showed 10.33 ± 1.15 mm and 10 ± 1.00 mm against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively, compared to ciprofloxacin (15.67±0.58 mm for both strains). DPPH radical scavenging assay of the dichloromethane/methanol (1:1) roots extract and isoflavan (1) exhibited better radical scavenging activity with IC50 value of 17.7 and 32, respectively. Molecular docking analysis revealed that 1 and 2 exhibited similar binding affinity of -7.4 kcal/mol compared to ciprofloxacin (-7.3 kcal/mol). In silico analysis against human peroxiredoxin 5 (PDB ID: 1HD2) revealed minimum binding affinity of - 3.7 and - 2.0 kcal/mol for compounds 1 and 2, respectively, compared to ascorbic acid (-4.9 kcal/mol). The in vitro antibacterial and antioxidant activity of compounds 1 and 2 suggest the potential use of these compounds as drug lead candidates which corroborate with the traditional uses of the roots of R. ferruginea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhamnus prinoides L'Herit belongs to Rhamnaceae family widely distributed in India, Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. In Ethiopia it is commonly known as Gesho (Amharic, Tigrigna and Afan Oromo), Gishe (Guragegna) and Geshu (Agewgna). Decoction of the leaves is recommended as remedy for treatment of variety of diseases such as back pain, malaria, pneumonia, sexually transmitted disease, skin infections, wounds, blood purifiers, water borne diseases and as ethnoveterinary medicine. Various secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, steroids and anthraquinones have been reported from the genus of which polyphenols were abundant with tremedousantioxidant, wound healing and antiinflammatory activities. The plant also serve as hopping agent, making traditional alcoholic beverages like tella and tej (in Ethiopia), animal feed, medicine, nectar for bees, soil conservation, ornamental, shade and dyes in textiles. This review presents chemical profile as well as biological activities of the species which confirmed that the plant is a good source natural polyphenols and provided valuable information in support of its use as an alternative medicine for future healthcare practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbascum sinaiticum is locally used to treat wound, stomachache, viral infection, cancer, sunstroke fever, abdominal colic, diarrhea, hemorrhage, anthrax, and hepatitis. The objective of this study was to identify the compounds and to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the extracts and isolated compounds from V. sinaiticum . The 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, and DEPT-135 were used to elucidate the structures of isolated compounds. Essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation method and their chemical analyses were performed by GC-MS. The broth microdilution method was used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity. The radical scavenging activity of the extracts and isolated compounds were evaluated using DPPH method. Silica gel column chromatographic separation of root extracts afforded seven known compounds: 3'-(4''-methoxy phenyl)-3'-oxo-propionyl hexadecanoate ( 1 ), harpagoside ( 2 ), pulverulentoside I ( 3 ), scrophuloside B4 ( 4 ), scropolioside A ( 5 ), scropolioside-D2 ( 6 ), and harpagide 6- O -β-glucoside ( 7 ), which are all reported from this species for the first time. The EO extracts from leaves and roots were the most susceptible to Streptococcus agalactiae , with a 2 mg/mL MIC. The EO from roots was effective against Candida albicans and Trichophyton mentagrophytes , with a MIC of 8 mg/mL. The MeOH and CH 2 Cl 2 /CH 3 OH (1:1) root extracts showed the maximum activity against S. epidermidis with MIC values of 0.25 mg/mL. The strongest antibacterial effects were demonstrated against Staphylococcus epidermidis , which exhibited a 0.0625 mg/mL MIC for compound 1 . The strongest radical scavenging activity was exhibited by the methanol extract (IC 50 = 3.4 μg/mL), and compounds 4 , 6 , 5 , 3 , 7 , and 2 with IC 50 values of 3.2, 3.38, 3.6, 3.8, 4.2, and 4.7 μg/mL, respectively, in comparison with ascorbic acid (IC 50 = 1.3 μg/mL). The results of the molecular docking analysis of compounds revealed minimal binding energies range from -38.5 to -43.1 kJ/mol, -33.1 to -42.7 kJ/mol, -34.7 to -39.3.7 kJ/mol, -25.5 to -37.6 kJ/mol against human myeloperoxidase (PDB ID: 1DNU), murA enzyme (PDB ID: 1UAE), human topoisomerase II β (PDB ID: 4fm9), S. epidermidis FtsZ (PDB number: 4M8I) proteins, respectively. The docking results and the in vitro antibacterial activity are in good agreement. These findings show that the isolated compounds 2 - 7 can act as potential antioxidants and strong antibacterials against Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis . As a result, V. sinaiticum root extracts have the potential to be effective in treating diseases caused by bacteria and free radicals, as long as further investigation has been suggested for the ultimate decision of this plant's potential candidate., (© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

The dichloromethane/methanol (1:1) extracts of the roots of Pentas longiflora and Pentas lanceolata showed low micromolar (IC(50) = 0.9-3 µg/mL) IN VITRO antiplasmodial activity against chloroquine-resistant (W2) and chloroquine-sensitive (D6) strains of PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM. Chromatographic separation of the extract of PENTAS LONGIFLORA led to the isolation of the pyranonaphthoquinones pentalongin (1) and psychorubrin (2) with IC(50) values below 1 µg/mL and the naphthalene derivative mollugin (3), which showed marginal activity. Similar treatment of Pentas lanceolata led to the isolation of eight anthraquinones ( 4-11, IC(50) = 5-31 µg/mL) of which one is new (5,6-dihydroxydamnacanthol, 11), while three--nordamnacanthal (7), lucidin-ω-methyl ether (9), and damnacanthol (10)--are reported here for the first time from the genus Pentas. The compounds were identified by NMR and mass spectroscopic techniques., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)