Assessing the toxicity and anti-anemia of Beta Vulgaris L.: in silico, phytochemical and antioxidant analysis

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to determine the toxicity, anti-anemia activity, betanin content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant capacity of Beta vulgaris L. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was implemented to optimize the extraction procedure. The total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of the extracts were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric and aluminum chloride methods, respectively. Furthermore, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method was employed to ascertain antioxidant capacity, whereas thin-layer chromatography was used to identify betanin content. The toxicity and anti-anemia properties were assessed in silico. The in-silico methods encompass several steps: ligand and target protein synthesis, docking of betanin compounds with the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) target protein via SwissDock, docking data visualization via USCF Chimera, and toxicity analysis via the pkCSM and Protox online tools. The findings indicated that the beetroot extract contained a total of 34.96 ± 3.97 mg GAE/g sample of phenol. The flavonoid content of beetroot was 4.93 ± 0.33 mg QE/g sample. Qualitative analysis conducted using thin-layer chromatography yielded results indicating the presence of betanin in the extract. The IC50 value for the antioxidant activity was 97.31 μg/ml. The docking study revealed the effective interaction of betanin with several amino acid residues, suggesting a low toxicity potential, supported by toxicity class 4 and an LD50 of 305 mg/kg, and the absence of liver and Ames toxicity. It concluded that betanin is a promising anti-anemia agent. levels.