32. Phytochemical, antimicrobial and elemental status of three anti-diabetic medicinal plants of Balochistan, Pakistan
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Abstract
Phytomedicines are used by tribal communities of Pakistan. This research was aimed to explore variations in total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) antioxidant activity (AA), antimicrobial activity and elemental composition of aerial parts of selected medicinal plants viz., Achillea wilhelmsii, Caralluma tuberculata and Fagonia bruguieri used as an anti-diabetic treatment in ethnobotanical knowledge systems of Balochistan. The obtained results showed variation of TPC, TFC and AA in extracts of selected medicinal plants in different solvents viz., Acetone, n-hexane and distilled water. F. bruguieri exhibited significant quantities of TPC in hexane extract, and highest concentrations of TFC in aqueous extract. The acetone extract of C. tuberculata showed a relatively better AA. Antibacterial activity of plant extracts was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli using the disc diffusion method. The results indicated that A. wilhelmsii extracts in acetone and hexane were extremely potent against S. aureus and somewhat active against E. coli. Among the studied elements, maximum concentrations of K in A. wilhelmsii and Na in C. tuberculata were found. The concentrations Fe, Pb and Mn were found comparatively high. Ni, Zn, Co, Cd, Bi, Cu and Cr respectively were found significantly different and Cd was not detected. These obtained findings revealed that the extracts of selected plants have anti-diabetic potentials due to the presence of bioactive compounds.
Keywords: Antimicrobial; Anti-diabetic; Antioxidant; Elemental; Medicinal plants; Total flavonoid and phenolic