Chalcones are secondary metabolites belonging to the flavonoid (C₆-C₃-C₆ system) family that are ubiquitous in edible and medicinal plants, and they are bioprecursors of plant flavonoids. Chalcones and their natural derivatives are important intermediates of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Plants containing chalcones have been used in traditional medicines since antiquity. Chalcones are basically α,β-unsaturated ketones that exert great diversity in pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, antitubercular, antiplasmodial, antileishmanial, immunosuppressive, anti-inflammatory, and so on. This review provides an insight into the chemistry, biosynthesis, and occurrence of chalcones from natural sources, particularly dietary and medicinal plants. Furthermore, the pharmacological, pharmacokinetics, and toxicological aspects of naturally occurring chalcone derivatives are also discussed herein. In view of having tremendous pharmacological potential, chalcone scaffolds/chalcone derivatives and bioflavonoids after subtle chemical modification could serve as a reliable platform for natural products-based drug discovery toward promising drug lead molecules/drug candidates.

Cordia dichotoma Forst. (F. Boraginaceae) has been traditionally used for the management of a variety of human ailments. In our earlier work, the antidiabetic activity of methanolic bark extract of C. dichotoma (MECD) has been reported. In this paper, two flavonoid molecules were isolated (by column chromatography) and identified (by IR, NMR and mass spectroscopy/spectrometry) from the MECD with an aim to investigate their antidiabetic effectiveness. Molecular docking and ADMET studies were carried out using AutoDock Vina software and Swiss ADME online tool, respectively. The isolated flavonoids were identified as 3,5,7,3′,4′-tetrahydroxy-4-methoxyflavone-3-O-l-rhamnopyranoside and 5,7,3′-trihydroxy-4-methoxyflavone-7-O-l-rhamnopyranoside (quercitrin). Docking and ADMET studies revealed the promising binding affinity of flavonoid molecules for human lysosomal α-glucosidase and human pancreatic α-amylase with acceptable ADMET properties. Based on computational studies, our study reports the antidiabetic potential of the isolated flavonoids with predictive pharmacokinetics profile.

Medicinal plants as rich sources of bioactive compounds are now being explored for drug development against COVID-19. 19 medicinal plants known to exhibit antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects were manually curated, procuring a library of 521 metabolites; this was virtually screened against NSP9, including some other viral and host targets and were evaluated for polypharmacological indications. Leads were identified via rigorous scoring thresholds and ADMET filtering. MM-GBSA calculation was deployed to select NSP9-Lead complexes and the complexes were evaluated for their stability and protein-ligand communication via MD simulation. We identified 5 phytochemical leads for NSP9, 23 for Furin, 18 for ORF3a, and 19 for IL-6. Ochnaflavone and Licoflavone B, obtained from Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) and Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice), respectively, were identified to have the highest potential polypharmacological properties for the aforementioned targets and may act on multiple pathways simultaneously to inhibit viral entry, replication, and disease progression. Additionally, MD simulation supports the robust stability of Ochnaflavone and Licoflavone B against NSP9 at the active sites via hydrophobic interactions, H-bonding, and H-bonding facilitated by water. This study promotes the initiation of further experimental analysis of natural product-based anti-COVID-19 therapeutics. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Over the years, medicinal plants have been employed in the treatment of inflammation and related ailments. This study evaluated the anti-inflammatory potential of the aerial parts of S. brevipes. The extracts and fractions were further evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity in carrageenan-induced rat model at varying doses (200 and 400 mg/kg doses, orally) for 5 h of treatment. The result of the phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides, flavonoids and tannins in the aerial parts of the plant. The in vivo anti-inflammatory study exhibited inhibition of 42% and 44%, 47% and 36%, 33% and 31%, and 43% and 42% for methanol extract n-hexane fraction, ethyl acetate fraction, and methanol fraction, at 200 and 400 mg/kg doses, respectively. The positive control (diclofenac sodium) showed an inhibition value of 51% at 5 mg/kg dose. Finally, it is concluded that S. brevipes possesses anti-inflammatory potential which validates the enthnomedicinal claim of the plant.