Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Pharmacognostic, phytochemical, biological and spectroscopic analyses of Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew root and stem bark

Muhammad Asif Wazir¹, Muhammad Iqbal Azhar¹, Zafar Alam Mehmood¹, Muhammad Imran Qadir², M Younis Khan³, Faheem Ahmad Siddique⁴, Talal Shaheer⁵, Waqar Hussain⁶, Khizar Abbas⁷

¹Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi; ²Institute of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan; ³Department of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur; ⁴Department of Pharmacy, University of Central Punjab Lahore; ⁵School of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China; ⁶Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry; ⁷Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.

For correspondence:- Khizar Abbas Email: khizarabbas@bzu.edu.pk Tel:+923228832872

Accepted: 15 November 2020 Published: 31 December 2020

Citation: Wazir MA, Azhar MI, Mehmood ZA, Qadir MI, Khan MY, Siddique FA, et al. Pharmacognostic, phytochemical, biological and spectroscopic analyses of Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew root and stem bark. Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(12):2667-2675 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i12.27

© 2020 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the pharmacognostic, phytochemical, biological and spectroscopic analyses of Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew root and stem bark.

Methods: Plant material (root and stem bark) was collected, authenticated, shade-dried and extracted by maceration using methanol as a solvent separately. Powder microscopy was performed using a binocular microscope. Fluorescence, physico-chemical analysis and phytochemical screening for the presence of secondary metabolites were performed using standard methods. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay was carried out using Artemia salina bioassay, while enzymatic modulatory study was performed by α-amylase inhibition assay. Microscopic analysis was carried out with scanning electron microscopy. Spectroscopic analysis was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Results: Powder microscopy showed the presence of different cellular structures. Various colors were observed under ultraviolet (UV) and ordinary light when treated with different reagents. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins and flavonoids but phenol and cardiac glycosides were absent from both extracts. The root bark of the plant showed significant brine shrimp lethality activity.

Conclusion: Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew root and stem bark contain a variety of bioactive compounds that have medicinal and therapeutic potentials. Therefore, further investigations are required to elucidate their pharmacological properties.

Keywords: Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew, Phytochemical, Spectroscopy, ?-Amylase