Meroterpenoids: A Comprehensive Update Insight on Structural Diversity and Biology.

Funder: This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-track Research Funding ProgramMeroterpenoids are secondary metabolites formed due to mixed biosynthetic pathways which are produced in part from a terpenoid co-substrate. These mixed biosynthetically hybrid compounds are widely produced by bacteria, algae, plants, and animals. Notably amazing chemical diversity is generated among meroterpenoids via a combination of terpenoid scaffolds with polyketides, alkaloids, phenols, and amino acids. This review deals with the isolation, chemical diversity, and biological effects of 452 new meroterpenoids reported from natural sources from January 2016 to December 2020. Most of the meroterpenoids possess antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, enzyme inhibitory, and immunosupressive effects

RP-UHPLC-MS chemical profiling, biological and in silico docking studies to unravel the therapeutic potential of heliotropium crispum desf. As a novel source of neuroprotective bioactive compounds

Heliotropium is one of the most important plant genera to have conventional folklore importance, and hence is a potential source of bioactive compounds. Thus, the present study was designed to explore the therapeutic potential of Heliotropium crispum Desf., a relatively under-explored medicinal plant species. Methanolic extracts prepared from a whole plant of H. crispum were studied for phytochemical composition and possible in vitro and in silico biological properties. Antioxidant potential was assessed via six different assays, and enzyme inhibition potential against key clinical enzymes involved in neurodegenerative diseases (acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE)), diabetes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase), and skin problems (tyrosinase) was assayed. Phytochemical composition was established via determination of the total bioactive contents and reverse phase ultra-high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (RP-UHPLC-MS) analysis. Chemical profiling revealed the tentative presence of 50 secondary metabolites. The plant extract exhibited significant inhibition against AChE and BChE enzymes, with values of 3.80 and 3.44 mg GALAE/g extract, respectively. Further, the extract displayed considerable free radical scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS radicals, with potential values of 43.19 and 41.80 mg TE/g extract, respectively. In addition, the selected compounds were then docked against the tested enzymes, which have shown high inhibition affinity. To conclude, H. crispum was found to harbor bioactive compounds and showed potent biological activities which could be further explored for potential uses in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries, particularly as a neuroprotective agent

Cryptosporioptide: A bioactive polyketide produced by an endophytic fungus Cryptosporiopsis sp.

An antibiotic polyketide, Cryptosporioptide (1) was isolated from the culture extract of the endophytic fungus Cryptosporiopsis sp. The structure of Cryptosporioptide has been established with the help of 1D ((1)H, (13)C), 2D NMR (HSQC, HMBC, COSY, NOESY) techniques and mass spectrometry (FABMS, HRFABMS). The absolute configuration was established by means of electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Cryptosporioptide exhibited both lipoxygenase inhibitory and anti-Bacillus megaterium activities

Psidium guajava L. An Incalculable but Underexplored Food Crop: Its Phytochemistry, Ethnopharmacology, and Industrial Applications.

Peer reviewed: TruePsidium guajava L. (guava) is a small tree known for its fruit flavor that is cultivated almost around the globe in tropical areas. Its fruit is amazingly rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium, and dietary fiber. In different parts of the world, this plant holds a special place with respect to fruit and nutritional items. Pharmacological research has shown that this plant has more potential than just a fruit source; it also has beneficial effects against a variety of chronic diseases due to its rich nutritional and phytochemical profile. The primary goal of this document is to provide an updated overview of Psidium guajava L. and its bioactive secondary metabolites, as well as their availability for further study, with a focus on the health benefits and potential industrial applications. There have been several studies conducted on Psidium guajava L. in relation to its use in the pharmaceutical industry. However, its clinical efficacy and applications are still debatable. Therefore, in this review a detailed study with respect to phytochemistry of the plant through modern instruments such as GC and LC-MS has been discussed. The biological activities of secondary metabolites isolated from this plant have been extensively discussed. In order to perform long-term clinical trials to learn more about their effectiveness as drugs and applications for various health benefits, a structure activity relationship has been established. Based on the literature, it is concluded that this plant has a wide variety of biopharmaceutical applications. As a whole, this article calls for long-term clinical trials to obtain a greater understanding of how it can be used to treat different diseases

Identification of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and flavonoid glycosides through HR-LCMS/MS analysis, biological screening, DFT and molecular docking studies on Heliotropium dasycarpum Ledeb.

The current study was carried out to reveal the chemical profile and biological screening of Heliotropium dasycarpum Ledeb, as well as the feasibility of its industrial application. Therefore, the methanolic extract (HdM) of H. dasycarpum was divided into n-hexane (HdH), ethyl acetate (HdE) and water (HdW) soluble fractions. All the fractions were inactive against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme, 3T3 and HeLa cell lines, but showed immunomodulatory effect up to 37 %. HdE fraction further displayed significant anti-urease activity with IC50 value of 74.072 ± 0.002, while HdM was found moderate inhibitor (63 %). Thus HdE was subjected to HR-LCMS/MS analysis in positive and negative ionization modes, and a qualitative analytical method with a data mining strategy was utilized. The secondary metabolites were identified by dereplication strategy using molecular networking as a bioinformatics tool, which disclosed the presence of 08 known alkaloids of heliotrine-type (1, 3, 5–10), and 05 (12–16) known flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides along with 03 new (2, 4 and 11) putative pyrrolizidine analogues. DFT simulations of identified compounds were performed using multiple quantum chemical and geometrical descriptors in order to determine their quantitative structure activity relationship. These secondary metabolites were docked against the enzyme urease which substantiated the inhibitory action of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and flavonoid glycosides. Furthermore, ADME analysis provided the base for the use of these compounds for further studies as drug leads and to unveil industrial application of H. dasycarpum in formulating products against gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer

Efficacy of Phytochemicals Derived from Roots of <i>Rondeletia odorata</i> as Antioxidant, Antiulcer, Diuretic, Skin Brightening and Hemolytic Agents—A Comprehensive Biochemical and In Silico Study

Roots of Rondeletia odorata are a rich source of phytochemicals with high antioxidant potential and thus may possess health benefits. This study used the LC-MS technique to identify phytoconstituents in R. odorata roots extract/fractions. Results revealed that n-butanol fraction and ethanolic extract contained total phenolic and flavonoid contents with values of 155.64 ± 0.66 mgGAE/g DE and 194.94 ± 0.98 mgQE/g DE, respectively. Significant potential of antioxidants was observed by DPPH, CUPRAC and FRAP methods while the ABTS method showed moderate antioxidant potential. Maximum % inhibition for urease, tyrosinase and carbonic anhydrase was shown by ethanolic extract (73.39 ± 1.11%), n-butanol soluble fraction (80.26 ± 1.59%) and ethyl acetate soluble fraction (76.50 ± 0.67%) which were comparable with thiourea (standard) (98.07 ± 0.74%), kojic acid (standard) (98.59 ± 0.92%) and acetazolamide (standard) (95.51 ± 1.29%), respectively, while all other extract/fractions showed moderate inhibition activity against these three enzymes. Hemolytic activity was also observed to range from 18.80 ± 0.42 to 3.48 ± 0.69% using the standard (triton X-100) method. In total, 28 and 20 compounds were identified tentatively by LC-MS analysis of ethanolic extract and n-butanol soluble fraction, respectively. Furthermore, molecular docking was undertaken for major compounds identified by LC-MS for determining binding affinity between enzymes (urease, tyrosinase and carbonic anhydrase) and ligands. It was concluded that active phytochemicals were present in roots of R. odorata with potential for multiple pharmacological applications and as a latent source of pharmaceutically important compounds. This should be further explored to isolate important constituents that could be used in treating different diseases