Abstract
Although Pakistan is stacked with enormous varieties of medicinal plants, only a little proportion of these plants has been evaluated for their medicinal and therapeutic properties. Herein, four indigenous medicinal plants Citrus sinenesis, Citrus paradiasii, Moringa olifera, and Hibiscus rosa-sinenesis were collected and subjected to phytochemical analyses to scrutinize the presence of secondary metabolites. Qualitative analy�sis showed the presence of an array of secondary metabolites in the selected plants, which were further corroborated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results revealed the presence of 33.24, 21.04, 15.2 ppm gallic acid in methanol, ethyl acetate and n-hexane fraction of C. sinensis peels extract, respectively. C. paradaissi peels consist of 24.06, and 18.24 ppm of gallic acid and caffeic acid, respectively, in methanol and chloroform fractions, whereas its methanolic seeds extract contain caffeic acid as a major component (10.63 ppm). H. rosa-sinenesis has shown p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and gallic acid at 35.26, 15.04, and 11.4 ppm, respectively. M. olifera contained 3.24 ppm gallic acid in pods extract while stems and leaves extract contain a very low amount. Anticancer profile evinced that Citrus sinensis extract showed the highest percent inhibition (142.746%) of human liver cancer (Hep G2) cell lines followed by H. rosa-sinensis (132.49%), C. paradaisii (82.39%) and M. olifera (68.0%). The determined IC50 values for antioxidant activity were C. sinenesis (IC50=0.49 mM), C. paradaisii (IC50=0.43 mM), M. olifera (IC50=0.42 mM) and H. rosa-sinensis (IC50=0.41 mM). Conclusively, the selected plants could be an effective alternative and deliverable chemical therapeutic to the pharmaceutical industry due to their excellent biological effects.
Highlights
Fruits and vegetables are important for human life because their persistent utilization reduces the risk of many incurable diseases
It has been concluded that Citrus plants are of enormous importance in pharmaceuticals and medicines due to the presence of many important phytoconstituents
The phytochemical analysis of C. sinensis peels proves to be very beneficial because of the presence of phytochemicals or bioactive compounds that are useful in various ways
Summary
Fruits and vegetables are important for human life because their persistent utilization reduces the risk of many incurable diseases. It is essential to take a healthy and natural diet. To cover this need, worldwide, intake of fruits, vegetables, plant-based foods, and nutrientrich plant products has been focused [1-5]. The utilization of proper diet (a complex of vegetable, fruits, and nutritional juices) is not enough to prevent chronic diseases because a specific diet only provides more than 25,000 bioactive constituents. It is of paramount significance to develop biodrugs based on food and dietary products for the betterment of human health, which is only possible through a complete understanding of the complex relationship of food, vegetables, fruits, plant-products
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