This study was aimed to analyze the anti-cancer activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized using aqueous plant extracts from the rhizome of Curcuma longa and Zingiber officinale. Synergistic aqueous extract of rhizome of C. longa and Z. officinale was used to green synthesis of AgNPs. Characterization of AgNPs was performed using UV–visible spectroscopy, FTIR, X-ray diffraction, TEM, and SEM analyses. Anti-cancer activity of AgNPs against human colon carcinoma (HT-29) cells was tested using MTT assay. UV–Visible spectroscopy analysis indicated the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sharp peak at 350–430 nm wavelength that corresponds to the production of AgNPs. FTIR analysis reveals that existence of carboxyl (—C 000000000000 000000000000 000000000000 111111111111 000000000000 111111111111 000000000000 000000000000 000000000000 O) and amine (N—H) functional groups in the AgNPs. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirms four spectral peaks at 111, 200, 220, and 311. SEM analysis showed that AgNPs are in a spherical shape with a size of 42–61 nm and TEM analysis showed particle size are ranged between 20–51 nm. Anti-cancer study reveals that AgNPs had shown cytotoxicity against HT-29 cells at the concentrations ranged from 25 to 500 μg/mL and IC50 at 150.8 µg/mL. This study concludes that AgNPs synthesized using rhizome of Z. officinale and C. longa possesses potential anti-cancer activity.

The medical application of pomegranate fruits and its peel is attracted human beings. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro α-Glucosidase inhibition, antimicrobial, antioxidant property and in vivo anti-hyperglycemic activity of Punica granatum (pomegranate) fruit peel extract using Caenorhabditis elegans. Various invitro antioxidant activity of fruit peel extracts was determined by standard protocol. Antibacterial and antifungal activities were determined using disc diffusion and microdilution method respectively. Anti-hyperglycemic activity of fruit peel was observed using fluorescence microscope for in vivo study. The ethyl acetate extract of P. granatum fruit peel (PGPEa) showed α-Glucosidase inhibition upto 50 % at the concentration of IC50 285.21 ± 1.9 μg/ml compared to hexane and methanol extracts. The total phenolic content was highest (218.152 ± 1.73 mg of catechol equivalents/g) in ethyl acetate extract. PGPEa showed more scavenging activity on 2,2-diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) with IC50 value 302.43 ± 1.9 μg/ml and total antioxidant activity with IC50 294.35 ± 1.68 μg/ml. PGPEa also showed a significant effecton lipid peroxidation IC50 208.62 ± 1.68 μg/ml, as well as high reducing power. Among the solvents extracts tested, ethyl acetate extract of fruit peel showed broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. Ethyl acetate extract supplemented C.elegans worms showed inhibition of lipid accumulation similar to acarbose indicating good hypoglycemic activity. The normal worms compared to test (ethyl acetate extract supplemented) showed the highest hypoglycaemic activity by increasing the lifespan of the worms. GC-MS analysis of PGPEa showed maximum amount of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 4-fluorobenzyl alcohol (48.59 %). In the present investigation we observed various biological properties of pomegranate fruit peel. The results clearly indicated that pomegranate peel extract could be used in preventing the incidence of long term complication of diabetics.

An outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been recognized as a global health concern. Since, no specific antiviral drug is proven effective for treatment against COVID-19, identification of new therapeutics is an urgent need. In this study, flavonoid compounds were analyzed for its inhibitory potential against important protein targets of SARS-CoV-2 using computational approaches. Virtual docking was performed for screening of flavonoid compounds retrieved from PubChem against the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 using COVID-19 docking server. The cut off of dock score was set to >−9 kcal/mol and screened compounds were individually docked against main protease, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and spike proteins using AutoDock 4.1 software. Finally, lead flavonoid compounds were subjected to ADMET analysis. A total of 458 flavonoid compounds were virtually screened against main protease target and 36 compounds were selected based on the interaction energy value >−9 kcal/mol. Furthermore, these compounds were individually docked against protein targets and top 10 lead compounds were identified. Among the lead compounds, agathisflavone showed highest binding energy value of −8.4 kcal/mol against main protease, Albireodelphin showed highest dock score of −9.8 kcal/mol and −11.2 kcal/mol against RdRp, and spike proteins, respectively. Based on the high dock score and ADMET properties, top 5 lead molecules such as Albireodelphin, Apigenin 7-(6″-malonylglucoside), Cyanidin-3-(p-coumaroyl)-rutinoside-5-glucoside, Delphinidin 3-O-beta-D-glucoside 5-O-(6-coumaroyl-beta-D-glucoside) and (-)-Maackiain-3-O-glucosyl-6″-O-malonate were identified as potent inhibitors against main protease, RdRp, and spike protein targets of SARS-CoV-2. These all compounds are having non-carcinogenic and non-mutagenic properties. This study finding suggests that the screened compounds include Albireodelphin, Apigenin 7-(6″-malonylglucoside), Cyanidin-3-(p-coumaroyl)-rutinoside-5-glucoside, Delphinidin 3-O-beta-D-glucoside 5-O-(6-coumaroyl-beta-D-glucoside) and (-)-Maackiain-3-O-glucosyl-6″-O-malonate could be the potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 targets.

Objective: To outline the antibacterial, antioxidant, α-glucosidase inhibition and anticancer properties of Michelia nilagirica (M. nilagirica) bark extract. Methods: The antibacterial activity of bark extracts against human pathogens was assessed by disc diffusion assay. Phytochemical screening, total phenols, flavonoids content, antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition properties of bark extracts were investigated by standard methods. In vitro anticancer activity of ethyl acetate extract at various concentrations was observed against HepG2 cells using MTT [3-(4, 5-dimethyl thiazol-2yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] assay. The presence of diverse bioactive constituents in the ethyl acetate extract was identified using FT-IR and GC–MS analysis. Results: Ethyl acetate extract was found to be the promising agent against human pathogens tested. The ethyl acetate extracts showed the presence of various phytochemicals and comprised the substantial content of phenolics and flavonoids. The ethyl acetate extract showed better antioxidant activities and also revealed remarkable reducing power ability and α-glucosidase inhibition property. The dose dependent assay of extract showed remarkable cancer cell death with IC50 value of (303.26 ± 2.30) μg/mL. FTIR and GC–MS results indicated the presence of major bioactive constituents in the ethyl acetate extract of M. nilagirica bark. Conclusions: Revealing the first report on in vitro biological properties and chemical composition analysis of M. nilagirica bark extract, our study implied that this plant could be of great importance in food and pharmaceutical industries