Open Access

ARTICLE

Orchestrating the Phytochemical Content and Bioactivities in the Leaf, Bark, and Fruit Extracts of Cornus capitata Wall

Deen Bandhu Dimri¹, Manisha Nigam^1,*, Naresh Singh¹, Shilpa Semwal¹, Marcello Iriti^2,3,*, Abhay Prakash Mishra⁴

1 Department of Biochemistry, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, 246174, India
2 Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milan, via L. Vanvitelli 32, Milan, 20129, Italy
3 National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology, via G. Giusti 9, Firenze, 50121, Italy
4 Cosmetics and Natural Products Research Center (CosNat), Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, 65000, Thailand

* Corresponding Authors: Manisha Nigam. Email: ; Marcello Iriti. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Molecular Insights of Plant Secondary Metabolites: Biosynthesis, Regulation, and Applications)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2025, 94(3), 1007-1027. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2025.061270

Received 20 November 2024; Accepted 24 January 2024; Issue published 31 March 2025

Abstract

Cornus capitata, commonly known as the Himalayan strawberry, is a dogwood species from the family Cornaceae. Dogwood plants have been used extensively to practice conventional medicine due to their biological activities; however, the mechanisms behind these activities, particularly in C. capitata, remain largely unexplored. This study focuses on the preliminary phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity, anti-diabetic potential, and antimicrobial profiling of different extracts (i.e., leaves, bark, and fruit) from C. capitata to evaluate its potential pharmaceutical and medicinal applications. The in-vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay, Ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, and Superoxide Anion Scavenging assay. The anti-diabetic potential was assessed using α-Glucosidase, α-Amylase, and Pancreatic lipase inhibition assay. The anti-microbial activity was evaluated using the Kirby-Bauer method and Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). According to the quantitative investigation, the most substantial quantities of flavonoids and phenolic compounds were identified in the leaves of C. capitata. Antioxidant activity results corroborated this conclusion, demonstrating that methanolic leaf extract had strong antioxidant activity, with the lowest IC₅₀ values recorded for the DPPH (32.4 ± 0.19 µg/mL) and Superoxide Radical Scavenging (37.10 ± 0.21 µg/mL) assays. Furthermore, the methanolic leaf extract displayed the highest α-Glucosidase inhibitory potential (IC₅₀ = 6.09 ± 0.52 µg/mL), while the methanolic bark extract exhibited the highest α-Amylase inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ = 49.10 ± 0.38 µg/mL). Regarding antimicrobial potential, the paper disc diffusion assay showed that none of the extracts demonstrated antibacterial effects against E. coli. However, the MIC assay revealed that the leaves and bark extracts exhibited antibacterial properties with MIC values of 80 and 500 µg/mL against E. coli, respectively. The paper disc diffusion assay against C. albicans indicated the antimicrobial potency of all three extracts. The crude methanolic extract of C. capitata shows strong antioxidant and antidiabetic potential, highlighting its therapeutic value. This is the first comparative investigation of leaf, bark, and fruit extracts of C. capitata to orchestrate the phytochemical profile and evaluate the antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antimicrobial activities. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to understand its biological implications.

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