First-time report on compound isolation from two species: vegetable-derived bioactive metabolites and their medicinal potential.

Background: Schott and Hook.f. are two commonly found vegetable species of the genus , found mainly in the Asian region.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to isolate bioactive phytochemicals from and and elucidate their structure employing the NMR technique followed by bioactivity evaluation.

Methodology: Column chromatography was utilized to isolate phytochemicals, followed by NMR analysis for characterization. An analgesic test was performed through an acetic acid-induced writhing test, an anti-inflammatory test was performed through a formalin-induced licking test, and an antidiarrheal test was performed through a castor oil-induced diarrhea model. The antimicrobial test was executed through the disc diffusion method. Computer-aided simulation was also implemented to validate the wet laboratory results.

Results: Six compounds from and were isolated and characterized from the dichloromethane (DCM)-soluble fractions of the methanolic extracts of these two species. Three of the compounds were from and proposed as penduletin , a mixture of α-amyrin , β-amyrin , and monoglyceride of stearic acid while the remaining three compounds were from and proposed as penduletin (which was also isolated from ), 7,8-(3″,3″-dimethyl-pyrano)-4'-hydroxy flavonol , and lastly a mixture of 7,8-(3″,3″-dimethyl-pyrano)-4'-hydroxy flavonol and 4',7,8-trihydroxy flavonol . These compounds showed promising zones of inhibition against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. In the antidiarrheal test, demonstrated the highest reduction in castor oil-induced diarrhea (44.44%) at a dose of 20 mg/kg compared to loperamide's 77.78% reduction. However, the analgesic assessment showed a noteworthy inhibition of acetic acid-induced writhing by and (56.52%) at a dose of 20 mg/kg compared to the 76.09% by diclofenac sodium. In comparison, showed pronounced anti-inflammatory action by 68.15% and 52.06% reduction, respectively, in the early and later phases compared to the ibuprofen's outcomes of 73.54% and 74.68%. Plausible targets such as dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) for antimicrobial, kappa opioid receptor (KOR) for antidiarrheal, and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) for anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities showed a noteworthy binding affinity with isolated compounds, and ADME/T studies displayed these phytochemicals' drug-likeness profiles.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on compound isolation from these plants, which demands further extensive research for more absolute findings.