Ramsha Saeed | Forman Christian College University (original) (raw)

Papers by Ramsha Saeed

Materials Today Communications

Antioxidants, 2015

In the quest for new medicines, the methanolic, hexanic, and aqueous extracts of Adiantum caudatu... more In the quest for new medicines, the methanolic, hexanic, and aqueous extracts of Adiantum caudatum leaves, obtained by Soxhlet extraction, were analyzed for phenolic and flavonoid contents, and antioxidant and antimicrobial potential. TPCs (total phenolic content) of the methanolic, aqueous and hexanic extracts were 27.7, 21.1, and 16.7 μg of gallic acid equivalents per mL, respectively, while TFCs (total flavonoid content) were 13.2, 11.6, and 10.0 μg of rutin equivalents per mL, respectively. Antioxidant activities of the extracts in reducing power, FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power), phosphomolybdate and ABTS assays follow the same order of methanolic ˃ aqueous ˃ hexanic. In the DPPH assay, however, the aqueous extract exhibited a slightly higher antioxidant activity than the methanolic one. Methanol is therefore a better solvent to extract most of the antioxidant components from A. caudatum leaves. In lipid peroxidation inhibitory assay, the extracts showed almost similar behavior and their activity decreased gradually with time. The aqueous extract was the strongest inhibitor after two days, but the hexanic became the most potent after about three days. The antibacterial potential of the extracts was determined against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Towards all the microbes, the aqueous extract was the most potent and the hexanic the least. P. aeruginosa was the most susceptible strain, while the aqueous and methanolic extracts exhibited a slightly higher efficacy against this pathogen than the drug amoxicillin. In conclusion, A. caudatum can potentially provide a remedy against disorders caused by oxidative stress and infections.

Microchemical journal, Apr 1, 2024

Coatings, Nov 9, 2021

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy

Arabian Journal of Chemistry

$Research paper thumbnail of Isolation and identification of bioactive compounds from chloroform fraction of methanolic extract of <i>Carissa opaca</i> roots$

Carissa opaca is a shrub known for its variety of medicinal applications. The present study repor... more Carissa opaca is a shrub known for its variety of medicinal applications. The present study reports isolation and identification of four chemical compounds from its roots for the first time. The methanolic extract of the roots was fractionated into various solvents with increasing polarity. Chloroform fraction was subjected to column and thin layer chromatography to ultimately yield 2H-cyclopropanaphthalene-2-one, 7-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2H-1-benzopyran-2one, 3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2,6-dimethylbenzofuran, and 5(1H)-azulenone, 2,4,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-3,8-dimethyl-4-(1-methylethylidene)-,(8S-cis). They were identified by GC-MS analysis. The compounds exhibited considerable antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus niger with zones of inhibition ranging from 10-13 mm as compared to the standard drug Amoxicillin with zones of inhibition 13-17 mm under the similar conditions. In conclusion, the roots of C. opaca can provide new leads for future antimicrobial drugs.

The fruit of Lagenaria siceraria is commonly used as a vegetable. The aim of the present work was... more The fruit of Lagenaria siceraria is commonly used as a vegetable. The aim of the present work was to compare the antimicrobial potential of extracts of its peel and mesocarp in various solvents against clinically important standard microbial strains including Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC9027, Escherichia coli ATCC8739, Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC6538 and Candida albicans ATCC10231. In general, mesocarp was more potent than peel. P. aeruginosa was most susceptible, and methanolic extracts of both peel and mesocarp showed higher activity than antibiotic Amoxil. Ethyl acetate fractions of both the fruit parts and n-butanolic fraction of mesocarp showed highly significant activity against P. aeruginosa. Hexane fractions of peel and mesocarp and ethyl acetate fraction of mesocarp showed higher activity against C. albicans than Amoxil. In conclusion, the fruit of L. siceraria possesses exploitable antimicrobial activity, and further phytochemical investigation ma...

Coatings

Nanotechnology emerged as a scientific innovation in the 21st century. Metallic nanoparticles (me... more Nanotechnology emerged as a scientific innovation in the 21st century. Metallic nanoparticles (metal or metal oxide nanoparticles) have attained remarkable popularity due to their interesting biological, physical, chemical, magnetic, and optical properties. Metal-based nanoparticles can be prepared by utilizing different biological, physical, and chemical methods. The biological method is preferred as it provides a green, simple, facile, ecofriendly, rapid, and cost-effective route for the green synthesis of nanoparticles. Plants have complex phytochemical constituents such as carbohydrates, amino acids, phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, and proteins, which can behave as reducing and stabilizing agents. However, the mechanism of green synthesis by using plants is still highly debatable. In this report, we summarized basic principles or mechanisms of green synthesis especially for metal or metal oxide (i.e., ZnO, Au, Ag, and TiO2, Fe, Fe2O3, Cu, CuO, Co) nanoparticles. Finally, we e...

Free Radicals and Antioxidants, 2016

Objective: To evaluate effect of boiling for different durations on total phenolic content, total... more Objective: To evaluate effect of boiling for different durations on total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, antioxidant activity and alpha-amylase inhibitory activity of water extract of Lagenaria siceraria fruit, and to compare nutritional properties of its epicarp, mesocarp, seeds pulp and pedicle. Methods: The bioactivities of aqueous extract of fruit was evaluated after boiling for 10, 20, and 30 min. Moisture, ash, fiber, protein, carbohydrate and lipid contents and vitamin C of epicarp, mesocarp, seeds pulp and pedicle were determined using standard methods. Mineral elements (Fe, Cr, Cu, Ag, Mn, Zn, Ni, Co and Pb) were estimated by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Results: DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) antioxidant and alpha-amylase inhibitory activities, and phenolic content drastically decreases with increase in duration of boiling. Flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity in phosphomolybdate assay exhibited a slight increase. Epicarp had higher percentage of protein, carbohydrate and vitamin C than other parts of the fruit, while pedicle had the highest content of fiber, zinc, silver and chromium. Epicarp had the highest content of Copper. Iron was in the range of 3.4-5.13, cobalt 0.14-0.31 and lead 0.5-1.8 mg/100 g. Amount of zinc in pedicle was highest among all the trace elements (6.5%) in all parts. Conclusion: The study revealed that boiling duration affects antioxidant and alpha-amylase inhibitory activities of the fruit of L. siceraria. Peel and pedicle of the fruit should not be discarded as they are rich in nutritional properties.

$Research paper thumbnail of Isolation and identification of bioactive compounds from chloroform fraction of methanolic extract of Carissa opaca roots$

Carissa opaca is a shrub known for its variety of medicinal applications. This study reports isol... more Carissa opaca is a shrub known for its variety of medicinal applications. This study reports isolation and identification of four chemical compounds from its roots for the first time. The methanolic extract of the roots was fractionated into various solvents with increasing polarity. Chloroform fraction was subjected to column and thin layer chromatography to ultimately yield 2H-cyclopropanaphthalene-2-one, 7-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one, 3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2,6-dimethylbenzofuran and 5(1H)-azulenone, 2,4,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-3,8-dimethyl-4-(1-methylethylidene)-,(8S-cis). They were identified by GC–MS analysis. The compounds exhibited considerable antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger with zones of inhibition ranging from 10 to 13 mm as compared to the standard drug amoxicillin with zones of inhibition 13–17 mm under the similar conditions. In conclusion, the roots of C. opaca can...

$Research paper thumbnail of Bioactive compounds from Carissa opaca roots and xanthine oxidase and alpha-amylase inhibitory activities of their methanolic extract and its fractions in different solvents$

Pharmacognosy Research, 2015

Background: Carissa opaca is known for its many ethnomedicinal uses. There was a need to study it... more Background: Carissa opaca is known for its many ethnomedicinal uses. There was a need to study its bioactivities and identify its phytochemicals. Objective: The objective was to isolate and identify phytochemicals from roots of C. opaca and to evaluate xanthine oxidase (XO) and alpha-amylase inhibitory activities of their methanolic extract and its fractions. Materials and Methods: Methanolic extract of finely divided powder of roots of C. opaca was obtained by cold maceration, followed by its fractionation to obtain hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanolic, and aqueous fractions. Phytochemicals screening was done by standard protocols. XO and alpha-amylase inhibitory activities of the methanolic extract and its fractions were studied. The most active ethyl acetate fraction was subjected to the column and thin layer chromatography to isolate its compounds, which were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography comparison. Results: Methanolic extract displayed significant activity against both the enzymes with IC 50 of 156.0 µg/mL and 5.6 mg/mL for XO and alpha-amylase, respectively. Ethyl acetate fraction showed highest activity against both the enzymes with IC 50 of 129 µg/mL and 4.9 mg/mL for XO and alpha-amylase, respectively. Chloroform fraction had IC 50 of 154.2 µg/mL and 5.5 mg/mL for XO and alpha-amylase, respectively. Aqueous fraction exhibited significant efficacy against alpha-amylase (IC 50 5.0 mg/mL). Hexane fraction showed good activity against alpha-amylase in a dose-dependent manner but exhibited opposite trend against XO. The compounds isolated from ethyl acetate fraction included limonene, vanillin, lupeol, rutin, quercetin, β-sitosterol, Vitamin E, 2-hydroxyacetophenone, naphthalenone, 2,3,3-trimethyl-2-(3-methylbuta-1,3-dienyl)-6-methylenecyclohexanone, and 2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, mono(2-ethylhexyl) ester. Conclusions: Moderately polar phytochemicals of C. opaca roots possess exploitable inhibitory activity against both the enzymes.

The objective of the present work was to investigate the anti-oxidative potential of methanolic e... more The objective of the present work was to investigate the anti-oxidative potential of methanolic extract of Carissa opaca roots and its fractions in solvents of different polarities. Total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) contents of methanolic extract were 211.95 ± 0.78 μg/mL gallic acid equivalents (GAE) and 8.35 ± 0.21 μg/mL rutin equivalents (RE), respectively. Ethyl acetate contained the highest amounts of both (TFC, 11.8 ± 0.28 RE; TPC, 342.80 ± 0.42 GAE) followed by chloroform fraction (TFC, 7.50 ± 0.14 RE; TPC, 275.85 ± 0.50 GAE). Extract and fractions displayed remarkable DPPH radical scavenging activity. EC50 values of methanolic extract was 0.88 mg/mL, while that of hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanolic and aqueous fractions were 0.58, 0.38, 0.29, 0.36 and 5.83 mg/mL, respectively, ethyl acetate fraction being most potent. The ethyl acetate fraction also showed the highest activity in terms of reducing power, phosphomolybdate and ABTS assays. All the fractions showed fairly good lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity, which remained almost constant over three days. Based on the results it can be concluded that roots of Carissa opaca contains phytochemicals with exploitable antioxidant, free radical scavenging, and lipid peroxidation inhibitory potential.

$Research paper thumbnail of Antimicrobial activities of methanolic extract of Carissa opaca roots and its fractions and compounds isolated from the most active ethyl acetate fraction$

Natural antibiotics for microbial infections and diseases. Carissa opaca. Also called garanda.

Antioxidants, 2014

In the quest for new medicines, the methanolic, hexanic, and aqueous extracts of Adiantum caudat... more In the quest for new medicines, the methanolic, hexanic, and aqueous extracts of Adiantum caudatum leaves, obtained by Soxhlet extraction, were analyzed for phenolic and flavonoid contents, and antioxidant and antimicrobial potential. TPCs (total phenolic content) of the methanolic, aqueous and hexanic extracts were 27.7, 21.1, and 16.7 μg of gallic acid equivalents per mL, respectively, while TFCs (total flavonoid content) were 13.2, 11.6, and 10.0 μg of rutin equivalents per mL, respectively. Antioxidant activities of the extracts in reducing power, FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power), phosphomolybdate and ABTS assays follow the same order of methanolic ˃ aqueous ˃ hexanic. In the DPPH assay, however, the aqueous extract exhibited a slightly higher antioxidant activity than the methanolic one. Methanol is therefore a better solvent to extract most of the antioxidant components from A. caudatum leaves. In lipid peroxidation inhibitory assay, the extracts showed almost similar behavior and their activity decreased gradually with time. The aqueous extract was the strongest inhibitor after two days, but the hexanic became the most potent after about three days. The antibacterial potential of the extracts was determined against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Towards all the microbes, the aqueous extract was the most potent and the hexanic the least. P. aeruginosa was the most susceptible strain, while the aqueous and methanolic extracts exhibited a slightly higher efficacy against this pathogen than the drug amoxicillin. In conclusion, A. caudatum can potentially provide a remedy against disorders caused by oxidative stress and infections.