Nutraceutical potential and bioassay of Apium graveolens L. grown in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan

Abstract

The present study investigates the nutritive and pharmacological potential of Apium graveolens commonly available as wild plant in Peshawar and suburbs of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan. For this purpose, plants of A. graveolens L. was collected from its natural habitat at mature stage (seedling stage) from Palusi, near KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar Pakistan. Similarly, celery seeds were obtained from 3 different ecological zone markets of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar, Swat and Dera Ismail Khan Regions of KPK Pakistan. Analysis of the data revealed that all the examined plants contained appreciable amount of moisture, ash, fat, protein and fiber. The wild celery had good level of vitamin C and β-carotene. The phytochemical screening of methanolic extracts of celery showed the presence of various groups of compounds including tannins, steroids, phenolic acids, terpenoids, flavonoids, volatile oils and saponins, whereas cardiac glycosides was absent in all the samples. Among the antioxidant parameters, a significant amount of total phenols and tannins were observed. Likewise elements analyzed were in the order of Na> P> K> Ca> Mg> Fe> Cu> Mn> Zn> Ni> Pb> Pt> Cd> Se> Cr. The results further revealed that Mg, Ca, P, K and Na were present in fairly high amount. The methanolic extract of all the examined celery showed positive antibacterial activity against different strains tested. Similarly, antifungal potential of the celery was determined againstTrichphyton longifuss, Candida albicans, Aspergillus flavus, Microsporum canis, Fusarium solani and Candida glabrata in concentration 200 µg ml-1 of dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO). The results revealed that all the organic solvents (hexane, chloroform, methanol) and water extracts showed no brine shrimp lethality and leishmanicidal activity. Key words: Bioassay, proximate, antibacterial, antifundal, Apium graveolens.