@article {1877, title = {Phytochemical and Biological Studies of Helichrysum acutatum DC}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Journal}, volume = {14}, year = {2022}, month = {October 2022}, pages = {603-609}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {603}, abstract = {

Helichrysum acutatum from the Asteraceae family is a shrub indigenous to Southern Africa. The plant is used in traditional medicine as an enema for newborn babies. This study aimed to isolate and identify the bioactive constituents from H. acutatum. In addition, the crude extracts and isolated compounds were tested for their antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxic activities. The phytochemical investigation afforded the known compounds stigmasterol, stigmasterol glucoside, and caffeic acid. The antioxidant activity of the ethyl acetate extract showed higher activity compared to other extracts, ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxytoluene. Antibacterial profiling of all the extracts showed no activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains. The cytotoxic activity of the crude extracts was assayed in vitro against two human cancer cell lines, liver hepatoblastoma (HepG2) and colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2). The human embryonic kidney cell line (Hek-293) was used as the non-transformed control. The plant extracts showed insufficient antiproliferative or cytotoxic activity to the tumour and regular cell lines tested, which signifies suitable for human consumption. Overall, this plant has better antioxidant activity than other plants in the genus, which needs further exploration.

}, keywords = {Antioxidant, Caffeic acid, Cytotoxicity, Magnetic resonance}, doi = {10.5530/pj.2022.14.142}, author = {Funsho Oyetunde-Joshua and Roshila Moodley and Hafizah Cheniah and Rene Khan} } @article {1213, title = {Chemical Composition and Some Biological Activities of the Methanolic Encephalartos ferox Fruit Extract}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Journal}, volume = {12}, year = {2020}, month = {August 2020}, pages = {1190-1197}, type = {Review Article}, chapter = {1190}, abstract = {

Background: Although literature reports the therapeutic properties of Encephalartos ferox, there are limited pharmacological studies of its fruit. Objective: This study sought to evaluate the antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-quorum sensing and in vitro cytotoxic activities of the methanolic E. ferox fruit extract. Methods: The chemical constituent of the methanolic fruit extract was analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Antibacterial activity of the extract was investigated against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Bacillus cereus (ATCC 10102), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) using the broth dilution method. The standard 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2.2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) methods were used to evaluate the scavenging activities of the extract. Anti-quorum sensing activity was assessed against biosensor strain- Chromobacterium violaceum (ATCC 12472). Cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells was investigated using the tetrazolium-based colorimetric (MTT) assay. Results: The extract revealed eight volatile compounds with cis-Vaccenic acid (87.06\%) and 9-Octadecenoic acid, 1,2,3-propanetriyl ester (5.21\%) as the major components. Antibacterial activity against all tested strains with minimum inhibitory concentration range of 1.56 - 12.5 mg/mL was observed. The DPPH and ABTS assays demonstrated scavenging activities with the median inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 0.09 mg/mL and 0.003 mg/mL, respectively. The extract also displayed strong anti-quorum sensing activity with 93\% inhibition of violacein production at 25 mg/mL. A half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 5370 μg/mL was computed in HepG2 cells. Conclusion: The extract has potential to be used as a source of therapeutic compounds in pharmaceutical applications.

}, keywords = {Anti-quorum sensing, Antibacterial, Antioxidant, Cytotoxicity}, doi = {10.5530/pj.2020.12.167}, author = {Phakamani Hopewell Tsilo and Sidney Tsolanku Maliehe and Jabulani Siyabonga Shandu and Rene Khan} }