In vitro antibacterial, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of plant Nephelium longan

Pharmacological potentials and Nutritional values of Tropical and Sub-tropical Fruits of India: Emphasis on their anticancer bioactive components

BACKGROUND

Fruits are an important dietary component, which supply vitamins, minerals, as well as dietary fiber. In addition, they are rich sources of various biological and pharmacologically active compounds. Among these, temperate fruits are well studied for their pharmacological potentials, whereas tropical/subtropical fruits are less explored for their health impacts. In India, most of the consumed fruits are either tropical or subtropical.

OBJECTIVES

The present review aims to provide a health impact of major tropical and sub-tropical fruits of India, emphasizing their anticancer efficacy. In addition, the identified bioactive components from these fruits exhibiting anticancer efficacy are also discussed along with the patent literature published.

METHODS

The literature was collected from various repositories, including NCBI, ScienceDirect, Eurekaselect, and Web of Science; literature from predatory journals was omitted during the process. Patent literature was collected from google patents and similar patent databases.

RESULTS

Tropical fruits are rich sources of various nutrients and bioactive components including polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanin, etc. By virtue of these biomolecules, tropical fruits have been shown to interfere with various steps in carcinogenesis, metastasis, and drug resistance. Their mode of action is either by activation of apoptosis, regulation of cell cycle, inhibition of cell survival and proliferation pathways, increased lipid trafficking or inhibiting inflammatory pathways. Several molecules and combinations have been patented for their anticancer and chemoprotective properties.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the present concludes that Indian tropical/ subtropical fruits are nutritionally and pharmacologically active and may serve as a source of novel anticancer agents in the future.

Antibacterial Activities, Phytochemical Screening and Metal Analysis of Medicinal Plants: Traditional Recipes Used against Diarrhea

The aim of this study was to explore the phytochemical composition, heavy metals analysis and the antibacterial activity of six medicinal plants i.e., Terminalia chebula Retz (fruits), Aegle marmelos L., (fruits), Curcuma longa L., (rhizomes), Syzygium aromaticum L., (flower buds), Piper nigrum L., (seeds), Cinnamomum cassia L., (barks) and its two remedial recipes (recipe 1 and 2) used against diarrhea obtained from the local herbal practitioners (Hakeems). A preliminary phytochemical screening of the above-mentioned plants extract in methanol, chloroform, n-hexane and distilled water revealed the presence of various constituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and saponins by using standard procedures. The quantitative phytochemical studies shows that alkaloids, flavonoid and saponins were in maximum amount in Terminalia chebula. The concentration of Cd, Ni, Pb, Fe, Cr, Cu and Zn were investigated by using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The obtained analysis shows that Cr, Fe and Pb were present in the highest concentration in medicinal plants and their recipes. The antibacterial activities of the crude extract found in the recipes of methanol, chloroform, n-hexane and distilled water were analyzed by using agar well disc diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) by broth dilution method against four bacterial strains, namely, E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), respectively. The maximum zones of inhibition in methanol, water, chloroform and n-hexane extracts were seen in recipe 2 against Shigella (22.16 ± 0.47 mm), recipe 2 against Shigella (20.33 ± 0.24 mm), recipe 1 against Shigella (20.30 ± 0.29 mm) and recipe 2 against E. coli (30.23 ± 0.12 mm), respectively. Furthermore, the recipe extracts are more active against the tested bacterial strains than the extracts from individual plants. Therefore, it is concluded that the use of herbal plants and their recipes are the major source of drugs in a traditional medicinal system to cure different diseases.

Antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities from Jatropha dioica roots

The antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of organic extracts obtained from roots of the medicinal plant Jatropha dioica (Euphorbiaceae) were investigated. In order to evaluate their antimicrobial activity, the organic extracts were tested against clinical isolates of the human pathogens Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Salmonella typhimurium, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis and Sporothrix schenckii. Results revealed that the hexane extract possess the stronger activity and a broader microbicide spectrum compared to the acetone and ethanol extracts. The activity of hexane extract may be attributed in part to the presence of β-sitosterol, the major compound identified by bioautography. The hexane extract, as well as the bioactive fraction were not cytotoxic when assays were profiled against the normal cell lines Chang, OK and LLCPK-1 (IC50>1000 μg mL(-1)).

The Study of Anticancer and Antifungal Activities of Pistacia integerrima Extract in vitro

Pistacia integerrima Stew. ex Brand (Anacardiaceae) is an ethanobotanically important plant species traditionally used in the treatment of chronic wounds, jaundice, dysentery, etc. The crude extract from Pistacia integerrima and its fractions were tested for cytotoxic activity against Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 human breast cancer cell line. We have also investigated that crude stem extract of this plant also exhibits the antitumour as well as antifungal potential activities. Moreover, we have also studied that the crude extract inhibited Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 cell viability in a dose-dependent manner; the poor toxicity (1.6%) at 10 μg/ml to moderate toxicity (55.4%) at 100 μg/ml. The IC₅₀ values calculated were 90.9 μg/ml. The ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions at a concentration of 200 μg/ml showed ~100 and 97.4% inhibition against Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 cell line, respectively. The crude methanol extract also showed good antitumour (IC₅₀ 125 ppm) activity, but weak antifungal activity. These findings reveal that the ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions of Pistacia integerrima are potent cytotoxic fractions, and could be an alternate candidate for the development of novel biologically active compounds.