@Article{phyton.2025.071139,
AUTHOR = {Yousra Hammouti, François Mesnard, Oussama Khibech, Mohamed Taibi, Yousra Belbachir, El Hassania Loukili, Reda Bellaouchi, Abdeslam Asehraou, Mohamed Addi},
TITLE = {Valorisation of Northern Moroccan <i>Centaurium erythraea</i>: Targeted Phytochemistry, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial Efficacy and Drug Likeness Benchmarking},
JOURNAL = {Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany},
VOLUME = {94},
YEAR = {2025},
NUMBER = {11},
PAGES = {3563--3583},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/phyton/v94n11/64696},
ISSN = {1851-5657},
ABSTRACT = {<i>Centaurium erythraea</i> Rafn (“Gosset El Haya”) has long been prized in North African folk medicine, yet Moroccan chemobiological data remain scarce. Ethanol extracts of northern Moroccan aerial parts were profiled by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and found rich in phenolics, dominated by 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (57.8%) and naringin (10.3%). The extract exhibited strong antioxidant power in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging assay, with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC<sub>50</sub>) of ≈74 µg mL<sup>−1</sup>, and a total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of ≈201 µg mL<sup>−1</sup> and selective antimicrobial activity, sharply inhibiting <i>Aspergillus niger, Penicillium digitatum</i>, and <i>Rhodotorula glutinis</i> while sparing <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>. <i>In-silico</i> absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) profiling predicted good oral bioavailability for low-molecular-weight acids and aglycones, low toxicity across all metabolites, but absorption liabilities for bulky glycosides. Molecular docking against <i>A. niger</i> esterase (1UKC), <i>C. glabrata</i> lanosterol 14-α-demethylase CYP51 (5JLC), and <i>P. digitatum</i> ethylene-forming oxidoreductase (9EIR) corroborated bioassays: rutin and naringin bound more tightly than fluconazole (ΔG ≈ −9.1 to −10.0 kcal mol<sup>−1</sup>), whereas quercetin and catechin offered balanced affinity pharmacokinetic profiles. Robust radical scavenging, targeted antifungal potency, and favorable <i>in-silico</i> pharmacokinetics thus position Moroccan <i>C. erythraea</i> as a promising, though standardization-dependent, source of nutraceutical, medicinal, and food-preservation agents. These results support the valorisation of <i>Centaurium erythraea</i> as a promising source for health promotion and green technology applications through its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and drug-like properties.},
DOI = {10.32604/phyton.2025.071139}
}