Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad., Capparis decidua (Forssk.) Edgew., and Calotropis procera (Aiton.) W.T. Aiton were selected as medicinal plants from the environmentally diverse locations of Punjab province, Pakistan, such as Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, and Lodhran. Variation in the levels of eight heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) was found among different species. Capparis decidua accumulated more heavy metals than other medicinal plants, particularly Hg (6.566 mg/kg), Pb (3.666 mg/kg), Ni (5.424 mg/kg), Cd (1.344 mg/kg), Zn (43.23 mg/kg), while Calotropis procera accumulated more As and Cu. Significant non-carcinogenic health risks (THQ > 1) were assessed by Hazard Index (HI), Target Hazard Quotient (THQ), and Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), which exceeded safety limits in all the plant species, indicating health hazards related to the consumption of medicinal plants. The antibacterial potential against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus was checked using the agar well diffusion method. Calotropis procera exhibited the strongest inhibitory effects against S. aureus (22.0 ± 0.6 mm), B. subtilis (19.5 ± 0.5 mm), and E. coli (14.5 ± 0.4 mm), followed by Capparis decidua and Citrullus colocynthis. HPLC analysis identified numerous bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, alkaloids, and terpenoids. Capparis decidua demonstrated the greatest phytochemical diversity, whereas Calotropis procera contained higher concentrations of several potent metabolites.

Tribulus terrestris (Puncture vine) is a medicinal herb found all around the world and also in the desert of Cholistan. Its therapeutic efficacy as eastern medicines have been known since ancient times. The present studies investigated the presence of phytochemicals and its antibacterial potential of Tribulus terrestris collected from desert of Cholistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Qualitative tests indicated the presence of alkaloids flavonoids, saponins terpenoids, tannins, carbs, proteins, amino acids and glycosides. Moreover, antibacterial potential of methanolic extracts of (seeds, leaves, stem and roots) was assessed using diffusion methods against different bacterial strains Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results shown that leaf and fruit extracts had (0 mm) activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. While, methanolic extracts of leaves had the highest inhibitory activity (12 mm) against Klebsiella pneumoniae, whereas other bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, had the lowest inhibition region (2.2mm). Furthermore, methanolic extract of leaves showed a quite moderate inhibition zone (10mm) against Staphylococcus aureus, compared to Tribulus terrestris extract of fruits, which had a (7mm) inhibition zone. The present study indicated that the phytochemicals extracted from Tribulus terrestris are valuable for the development of pharmacological formulations to treat different diseases.

The medicinalplants can prevent and enhance the potential health of human beings with the nutritional constituents such as fats, proteins and other phytochemical compounds. Since active medicinal constituents are present in plants, 78 percent of drugs have a plant origin. The study aimed to find out the proximate analysis and to ascertain the antibacterial and antifungal properties of five native medicinal plants in Punjab, Pakistan: Convolvulus arvensis, Sesamum indicum, Capparis spinosa, Annona squamosa, and Anethum graveolens. The sample plant levels were analyzed in terms of moisture content, ash, protein, fat and carbohydrate. Agar Diffusion was used to ascertain the anti-microbial activities on bacterial and fungal strains and reveal the presence of 5% Protein and 15% fat content in higher in Convolvulus arvensisand 83.82% carbohydrate content in Sesamum indicum. Moreover, the results of the methanolic extracted plants were constructive against bacterial and fungal strains. Capparis spinosacontained 19.73% moisture content amongst all the selected plant species and had high potential against E.coliat 10mg/ml minimum inhibitive concentration. Convolvulusarvensisand Annona squamosagave an MIC of 1mg/ml which inhibited Salmonella Typhi. In the antifungal assay, the plant extracts recorded significant results on the fungal strains except Trichoderma. Convolvulus arvensiswith MIC of less than 10mg/ml and Anethum graveolenswith MIC of less than 10mg/ml were used in antifungal research with positive outcome against acremonium and pythium respectively. The paper ends up with the palm of medicinal plants of Punjab in Pakistan that can be used against microbial infections. Based on the findings, the medicinal plants that were selected provided knowledge of value to human health when used in therapeutic treatment and can be used as a substitute to synthetic medicines in the future.