Trends in Phytochemical Research
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2023

A decreased prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular illnesses is linked to eating spicy spices in food. Hot peppers contain the active ingredient capsaicin. It is a naturally occurring compound found in peppers of the Capsicum genus, which includes varieties like jalapeno, habanero, and cayenne. It is responsible for the spicy or hot taste that these peppers are known for. Capsicums are long recognised for their great nutritional contents, such as the chilli pepper. Human health benefits of capsaicin have been the subject of extensive research . Numerous advantages of capsaicin, including cardio protective influence, anti-lithogenic effect, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, thermogenic influence and advantageous effects on gastrointestinal system, have been described in various studies.

Phytochemical investigation of Warburgia stuhlmannii ethyl acetate root extract led to isolation of ten known compounds identified as polygodial (1), cinnamolide (2), warburganal (3), bemadienolide (4), ugandensidial (5), muzigadial (6), mukaadial (7), 6α-hydroxymuzigadial (8), ugandensolide (9) and deacetylugandensolide (10). Structures of the isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods; NMR, IR, UV-Vis and spectrometric method, EI-MS, as well as comparison with literature data. In their antiplasmodial activities, the compounds had moderate activities against the chloroquin sensitive (D10) and chloroquin resistant (W2) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Among the compounds, mukaadial (7) had the highest activities against both D10 and W2 strains of P. falciparum, with IC50 values of 5.2 µM and 5.8 µM, respectively, while muzigadial (6) though effective on D10 strain (IC50 = 5.6 µM) was less effective against W2 strain (IC50 = 16.4 µM).

Pterospermum rubiginosum B.Heyne ex G.Don (PR) is a traditional medicinal plant used by the tribal people of the Western Ghats to treat bone fractures, inflammation, and sprain. Being an under-explored medicinal plant, the mechanism behind the anti-inflammatory activity of PR is unknown to the scientific community. FTIR analysis was done to recognize the functional groups in PR bark extract, and LCMS elucidated the phytochemical characterization. Molecular docking studies showed an excellent ligand and protein (inflammatory mediators) binding and their interactive mechanism. Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were found to be 46.7 and 37.4 g/100 g for PRME. PRME showed hydrogen peroxide and DPPH (1,1diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 48.33 and 42.70 µg/mL, respectively. Gene expression study of COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes confirmed the anti-inflammatory activity of PRME. The present study justifies the potential use of PR in the traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory agent.

Urtica dioica L. (family Urticaceae) is an herbaceous shrub originally from the colder regions of northern Europe and Asia grows today all over the world. It has a long history of use in the household home remedies and nutritious diet. This study was conducted to investigate the chemical constituents of the root of Urtica dioica L. grown in Ethiopia. The secondary metabolite class screening test of n-hexane extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins and terpenoids, whereas the chloroform crude extract showed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, and tannins in addition to the classes of secondary metabolites present in the n-hexane extract. The methanolic extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, phenols, saponins, steroids, tannins, flavonoids, and terpenoids. The column chromatographic separation of the methanolic extract afforded two ursane-type pentacyclic triterpenes namely 3β-hydroxy-urs-12-ene-28-oic acid commonly known as ursolic acid and 3,7,24-trihydroxyl-urs-12-en-28-oic acid which is also known as 7,24 dihydroxy ursolic acid.

Annona muricata L. belongs to the family Annonaceae with a huge number of secondary metabolites representing a wide variety of pharmacological actions. This study evaluated the secondary metabolites, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of A. muricata fruits extracts. The methanolic fruit extracts showed higher amounts of total phenols, tannin and flavonoids (289.63 ± 2.3 GAE mg/g, 121.02 ± 3.4 GAE mg/g, and 86.24 ± 3.1 RE mg/g), whereas HPLC analysis of methanol fruit extracts revealed the presence of major phenolic isoforms, especially coumaric acid (2 mg/g), catechin (0.22 mg/g), rutin (0.54 mg/g), and quercetin (0.64 mg/g). The FTIR spectrum analysis showed the presence of phenolic and carbolic groups. In addition, 100 µg/mL methanolic fruit extract of A. muricata displayed the maximum zone of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus (12.3 ± 0.07 mm) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (11 ± 0.09 mm) altogether accounting for the potential in vitro antibacterial activity of the methanol extract of A. muricata L.

Anthelmintic resistance remains a significant challenge for the treatment of gastrointestinal parasites. The search for novel compounds is costly, but the traditional knowledge of Sashechalam hill practitioners led us to investigate Grewia bilamellata Gagnep. We assessed its anthelmintic activity against Indian earthworms (Pheretima posthuma) using various extract concentrations (10, 20, 50, and 100 mg/mL), with albendazole as the positive control and normal saline as the negative control. The duration of paralysis and death indicated anthelmintic efficacy. G. bilamellata ethanol extract (GBEE) demonstrated a significant concentration-dependent effect. The IC50 values for albendazole, G. bilamellata petroleum ether extract (GBPE), G. bilamellata ethyl acetate extract (GBEA), and GBEE were 181.947, 310.337, 270.488, and 223.468 mg/mL, respectively. GBEE exhibited potent anthelmintic activity comparable to that of albendazole, with the lowest paralysis and death rates in the model. The HR-LC-MS analysis of GBEE identified 38 phytoconstituents, of which 22 compounds obeyed Lipinski’s rule. Molecular docking with β-tubulin revealed that 15 compounds exhibited superior binding energy (-8.3 to -6.3 kcal/mol) compared to albendazole (-6.1 kcal/mol). Further investigations are crucial to isolate and evaluate these compounds for the development of new anthelmintic drugs. Our findings support the traditional use of G. bilamellata Gagnep. as an anthelmintic, and highlight its potential for future therapeutic applications.