Natural products from plants have played an important role in the lives of mankind from time immemorial for

their use as a source of food, medicine and livelihood (Leland et al., 2006). But the most important is the
medicinal values of plants, a valuable gift from nature.

But the medicinal plants, gain more popularity, in health system after ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological
(The knowledge of folk medicine) studies in which the indigenous people (The knowledge which move from
generation to generation, an experience of thousands year) were treating chronic disease (Arthritis, Diabetes,
Cancer, Depression, Eczema, Insomnia, Respiratory disorders, Digestive disorders and Heart disease) by different
plant formulation. Now days it is quite known that, this traditional knowledge is disappearing from world, but
actually not, it is changing with the face of world globalization (Heinrich, 2010). Many important drugs
(berberine, ephedrine, reserpine, morphine, aspirin, Vincristine etc) were originally discovered through the study
of traditional knowledge of indigenous people. Human history described a strong relationship between mankind
and plant-based medicines. Man has used medicinal plants for treating various ailments in the past. Such as the
Greeks how have the great knowledge of plants as medicine. Babylon an ancient city (2300 BC) gives instructions
for preparation and administration of the medicinal herbs, in the early first century AD Greek herbalist (Pedanius
Dioscorides) listed more than 500 plants with medicinal properties. Romans also have great contribution to
increase the knowledge of medicinal plants, more than 200 plants have been introduced by Romans invaders to
Britain (Peter and Pamela, 1994).

It is a fact that the majority of the world's population still depends on the plant for treating various types of
disorders according to the WHO, about 60-80% populations of the developing countries are still using medicinal
plants for their health care (WHO, 2011). Unani system of Pakistan, the Indian Ayurvedic system and the Chinese
herbal system are the pillars of the modern medical system (Trops, 2001) but the role of plants in the modern
health care system is still underestimated. For a productive research on medicinal plants, a team work is
necessary which consist up of ethnobotanists, ethnopharmacologists, physicians and phytochemists (Gilani and
Atta-ur-Rahman 2005). Ethnobotanists gather information from the local folks about medicinal plant,
Ethnopharmacologists select traditionally used medicanal plant for laboratory screening in the hope to find a
universally pertinent drug for treatment of disease. Phytochemists screen out that medicinal compound to use as a
drug for treatment of disease. Physician improved preparations and check effectiveness of that drug ( Heinrich and
Gibbons, 2001).

Data from research studies show that plants contain a large variety of substances called ‘‘phytochemicals’’ that
possess therapeutic potential (Li et al., 2016). These phytochemicals are of unique carbon skeleton structures
which give them different properties. Plants generally contain different types of phytochemical or metabolites
(primary and secondary)

The primary metabolites include Chlorophyll, proteins, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, fiber and sugars,
these metabolites are very important for the development and growth of the plant and an essential part of life
(Gafar and Itodo, 2011).

The compound such as saponins, phytates, oxalates, tannins, glycosides, flavonoids and polyphenols are known as
secondary metabolites, and are mostly biologically active because of the therapeutic potential against various
aliments (Soetan and Oyewole, 2009). These secondary metabolites are not necessary for the survival of cell but
they provide protection against external environment and disease due to which they add pharmacological
properties in nutrition (Soetan and Oyewole, 2009).

Secondary metabolites from plant are mainly classified into different group such as Polyphenols (phenolic acids,
flavonoids, anthocyanins, coumarins, tannins lignans and stilbenes), Terpenes (Carotenoids xanthophylls, cardiac
glycosides and sterol), Nitrogen (N) (non-protein amino acids, cyanogenic glucosides and alkaloids) and Sulphur
(S) (GSH, GSL, phytoalexins, thionins, defensins and lectins) containing compounds, Vitamins (vitamin E,
A,B,D,K and C), and Antioxidant Enzymes (Mazid et al., 2011).

Terpenes are the biggest group of secondary metabolites plants produce very diverse type of terpens in defence
mechnisam and as toxins. Terpens are further divided into monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpene, Triterpenes
and polyterpenes. Some of the common example of terpens are (pyrethroid used as insecticides; phytol used to
control lipid abnormalities, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia; abietic acid used as anti-inflammation and
atherosclerosis; Auraptene as anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive and anticardiovascular; Bixins as antioxidant
and anticarcinogenic, chloroquine as antimalarial). These terpenoids are common in many plants such as
tea, thyme, cannabis, Spanish sage, lemon, orang and mandarin. Due to presence of Terpenes these plants have a
wide range of medicinal uses i.e. antiplasmodial, antiviral, anticancer and antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory,
antioxidant, antiseptic, astringent, as digestive and diuretic (Cox-Georgian et al., 2019).

Polyphenol is another very diverse group of phytochemical compound approximately more than 8000 phenolic
compunds have been discovered up till now. Based on their structure this group is again divided into two
subgroup flavonoids (Flavonols, Flavones, Flavan-3-ols, isoflavones, anthocyanidins, Flavanones, coumarins,
aurones, chalcones flavan-3,4-diols, and dihydrochalcones, Lignin) and non-flavonoids (phenolic acids, tannins,
polyphenolics, hydroxycinammates, stilbenes). These polyphenol play very important rule in plants as well as in
human life by fighting against many disease mostly the plants rich in polyphenols are found most active
medicinally against many disease. Some imporatn and medicinaly active polyphenol include (quercetin,
kaempferol, myrecetin, catechins, cyanidin, peonidin, malvidin, Gallic acid, caffeic acid, ferrulic acid, tangeretin,
nobiletin and isorhamnetin) found in majority of plants such as parsley, thyme, celery,  graphs, peanuts, apple,
cherries, cinnamon, coffee and tea etc. Various experimental studies showed that, these polyphenol are very much
biologiacly active against many chronic disorders i.e. diabetes , cancer, inflammatiom, cardiac disease,

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osteoporosis, neuro diseases, asthma, hypertensive, ageing, pain, cerebrovascular disease, obesity, fungal,
bacterial and antiviral diseases (Odongo et al., 2017).

Nitrogen (N) containing metabolites commonly known as “alkaloids” they are heterocyclic in structure and are
mostly derived from amino acids. There are about more 5000 alkaloid well know distributed among 20% of plant
species (Jain et al., 2019). At industrial level about 12000 different forms of alkaloids are used in pharmaceutics,
poisons and drugs (Hesse, 2002). These alkaloid have rich medicinal history dating back to 3000 years, used for
snake bite, cleanser for digestive track and antitussive. They are further classified into different groups based on
their structure, 1) heterocyclic ring with nitrogen atom, also known as Typical alkaloids they are derived from
amino acids, 2) non-heterocyclic, amines , 3) Steroidal alkaloids (heterocyclic ring with nitrogen atom but not
derived from amino acids). Heterocyclic ring alkaloids are further classified into different sub-groups, such as
(Isoquinoline, Quinoline, Tropane, Aporphine, Steroid, Terpenoid, Indolizidine, Indole, Imidazole, Norlupinane,
Purine, Pyrrolizidine, Piperidine, Pyridine, Pyrrolidine and Pyrrol). Some of well-known alkaloids include
vincristine, vinblastine, atropine, hyoscine, camptothecin, berberine, tubocurarine morphine, Nicotine, caffeine
and codeine. These alkaloids are isolated from many important medicinal plants (tea, coffee, poppy plant,
Orchids, Yerba mate, Tobacco, belladonna most of the members of Solanaceae family and some spices). Due to
presence of alkaloids these plants possesses many important biological properties such as anticancer,
antimicrobial, sedative, analgesic, relaxants, antitussive, purgative, gout suppressant and analgesic (Ahmed et al.,
2017).

Sulphur (S) containing metabolites are generally a small group of chemical substance in plants as compared to
others but biologically important. This group is divided into two subgroups, 1) glucosinolate substrate 2) Allinins
substrate. The subgroup glucosinolate is mostly commonly found in the member of Brassicaceae family (cabbage,
broccoli, mustard and Radish etc.) because they are formed by hydrolyzation of glucosinolate substrate by the
enzyme myrosinase. While the second group Allinin is most common in Amaryllidaceae family and in genus
allium (onion, garlic, leek and chives etc.) because they are formed by the hydrolyzation of alliin by enzyme
alliinase. Biologically these compounds are very much important that’s why the members from both of these
family are extensively used as vegetable, condiments and as a spices in food. Various research studies showed that
these compounds are biologically important for the treatment of, atherosclerosis, inflammation, cancer, against
bacteria (gram positive and negative) disorders, fungi and digestive disorders. Some of the important compounds
include desulphoglucosinolate, isoalliin, isothiocyanates, Thionins, Phytoalexins, defensins etc. (Pagare et al.,
2015).

Vitamins derived from Plants are of great interest because of their impact on human health. Vitamns are divided
into two classes 1) water soluble 2) lipid soluble. Water soluble vitamins include vitamin B (riboflavin) and C
(ascorbate) and lipid soluble include (vitamin A (carotenoids), E (tocochromanols), D (ergocalciferol) and K (2
methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) (sensi-Fabado & Sergi, 2010). In vitamins the, “Vitamin C” is one of the important
antioxidant present in most plants has been proposed, for a long time, as a biological antioxidant. It was found to
act as a chain breaking scavenger for per-oxy radicals and also to act as a synergist with vitamin E which is also
one of the best quenchers for singlet oxygen, and can act as a chain-breaking antioxidant. Furthermore, singlet
oxygen is very powerfully quenched by carotenoids, especially b-carotene. In the case of phenolic compounds, the
ability of the phenolic to act as antioxidants depends on the redox properties of their phenolic hydroxyl groups,
which allow them to act as reducing agents, hydrogen-donating antioxidants and oxygen quenchers (Baiano et al.,
2015).

Large number of experimental studies indicate that these secondary metabolites from plants help to reduce the
lipid oxidation, the product of lipid oxidation knows as Reactive oxygen species (ROS), are harmful for the human
body because they produce free radical (superoxide, hydroxyl, peroxides, singlet oxygen, nitric oxide radicals)
which harm healthy cells, create harmful molecules, contribute to the physiological obstruction and degenerative
processes related to aging and diseases, e.g. cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disorders, such
as Alzheimer disease (Schieber and Chandel, 2014; Wang et al., 2016). These ROS are generated both by
endogenous and exogenous sources. Endogenously they are produce by normal physiological processes ( i.e.
mitochondrial electron transport chain, Redox cycle, cytochrome P450 reaction, NADPH oxidases, xanthine
oxidase, autoxidation reaction, lipoxygenases, Prostaglandin synthase, oxidative reaction in phagocytic cells and
transition metal) and play important roles in cell signaling and tissue homeostasis. While the exogenous source of
these ROS are i.e. environmental toxins, radiations (Ultraviolet, x-rays, Gemma rays), smog, diet,
chemotherapeutics, chemical and drugs (Guerriero et al., 2014). Since oxygen is necessary for oxidative
metabolism of all aerobic organism, oxidative stress response is a common process induced cell damage, so the
human body just need an effective defense mechanisms to maintain oxidative homeostasis and assure the cell
survival.

The components which play an important role in reducing the lipid oxidation and protection from ROS are known
as ‘‘antioxidants’’ they help in reducing the oxidative damage and hence protect the body against harmful
disorders. These antioxidants compound delay or inhibit the oxidation of lipids or other molecules by inhibiting
the initiation or propagation of oxidative chain reaction, which can thus prevent or repair damage done to the
body’s cells by donating electron or hydrogen molecule. They act in one or more of the following ways: reducing
agents, free radical scavengers, potential complexes of pro-oxidant metals, and quenchers of singlet oxygen (Li et
al., 2015).

The human body have an internal natural antioxidant system of defend the body against the harm of ROS. That
internal system of defense is known as endogenous antioxidant system.This antioxidant defense mechanism in
body is divided into two system enzymatic and non-enzymatic.

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Enzymatic mechanisms of antioxidant involve the complete detoxification of ROS by enzymatic cascades. Again
by their mode of action, they are divided into two groups: one which react directly with ROS, while the other
which act as regulators for redox reaction. For example, the catalase not only detoxify hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2)
but also help in the reduction of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. Because the removal of hydrogen peroxide
activate the production of dormant tumour cells (Cipak et al., 2010).

On the other hand Non-enzymatic antioxidative systems are not as specific as enzymatic ones, but, they work as a
first line force in oxidative stress and are highly importance in cellular response. The important example of Non-
enzymatic antioxidants are “Vitamin C” which quenches the free radicals and forms an ascorbyl radical (stable
radical) which causes little or no oxidative damage. Vitamin E is another Non-enzymatic antioxidant, it’s a generic
name given to a group of tocopherols and tocotrienols. It protects the body by stopping chain reaction in lipid
compartments of cells or by inactivating the ROS. Vitamin E also involved in signal transduction by modulating
specific enzymes such as protein kinase C (PKC), protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), protein tyrosine phosphatase
(PTP), protein tyrosine kinase (PTK). Therefore, control the various cellular functions, such as apoptosis, necrosis,

While it is obvious that the body have a self-defensive mechanism (enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants)
which protect the body from oxidative damage. But in some cases it is not enough to give full protection to the
body so exogenous source of antioxidant is required to maintain the balance of homeostasis. This exogenous
source of antioxidant may be natural or synthetic one. A lot of research is going on world-wide for antioxidants
considering both natural and synthetic sources.

The synthetic antioxidant which are widely use at industrial level include Butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA; E-
320), Butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT; E-321), Propyl gallate (E-310), Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ; E-
319). But the use of these synthetic antioxidant is limited in most of the developing countries like BHA and BHT
is banned for use in food in Japan and Australia, and limited in Europe. While the use of TBHQ is banned in
Europe and limited in United States (USA). However the Propyl gallate is sensitive to temperature so it cannot
survive in temperature change (Murakami et al., 2015). So therefore search for the novel sources of natural
antioxidants are a new path.

In recent years, there has been a considerable interest in finding natural antioxidants from plant materials to
replace synthetic ones. Natural antioxidant from plants are presumed to be safe since they occur in plant as a
defense and we use plants as food, so they are seen as more desirable than their synthetic counterparts. Naturally
antioxidants occur in almost all plants, and in all parts e.g. wood, bark, stems, pods, leaves, fruit, roots, flowers,
pollen, and seeds depending on the surrounding of the plants. As discussed earlier that the main role of these
secondary metabolites was to protect the plant against environmental conditions to ensure the continuous
existence of organism in its ecosystems. So depending on the surrounding of a plant these metabolites may differ
between individuals from the same population in respect of their amount and types. Typical those parts of the
plant which are rich of these metabolites (vitamins, carotenoids, and most important, phenolic) exhibit high
antioxidant activity. Therefore, recommendations have been made to increase the daily intake of fruit, vegetables
and some wild edible plants which are rich in these compounds that lower the risk of chronic health problems
(Klipstein-Grobusch et al., 2000; Moeller et al., 2000). The antioxidant compounds of higher plants have been
well studied and well demonstrated in, in-vitro experiments, to show that they protect the body against oxidation
damage by inhibiting or quenching free radicals and reactive oxygen species (Li et al., 2016).

From research studies we come to know that the secondary metabolites have great economic important due to its
use in health system as drugs, pharmaceutics, as flavors, fragrances, insecticides, and dyes. So the most important
of all is its isolation from plants. Isolation of compound is not a anew technique but as the science progress new
techniques re developing day by day or the old techniques are improving to increase its efficiency. The old method
of isolation was just focused on the chemistry of compound not on its biological activities. But as we are
progressing the biological activities gain more attention as compared to chemical structures. Now days the
isolation is a bio-guided isolation on certain activities.

The qualitative analysis show the presence of specific groups of phytochemical. This analysis is very important to
show that which chemical groups are present and which are not. For different classes different methodologies are
followed i.e the method given by (Harborne, 1998; Dmitrienko et al., 2012; Sofowora, 1993) for identification of
alkaloids Dragendroff’s test, Mayer’s test and Wagner’s test are used, for identification of flavonoids the Alkaline
reagent test, for Saponins, Foam test, for Tannins, Ferric chloride test, for Carbohydrates, Molish’s test, for
Phenols, Lead acetate test, for Proteins, Millon’s test and for fats spot test is carried out (Bandiola, 2018).

As the qualitative show only the presence or absence of particular group, the quantitative phytochemical analysis
show the percentage of particular chemicals in plants. This quantitative analysis for phenol, flavonoids, tannins
and alkaloids are widely used to correlative the biological properties of plants. The total alkaloid content of the
plant is measured by UV- spectrophotometrically by carrying the reaction between alkaloid and bromocresol
green (BCG), the Total phenolic content (TPC) is measured by Folin- ciocalteu method spectrophotometricaly.
The total flavonoid (TFC) content of the plant is measured by using Aluminium chloride, TOTAL saponin the
chemical Vanilin is used spectrophotometrically to find out the quantity of saponin (Madhu et al., 2016).

After identification the major step is the isolation of those phytochemicals. Different techniques are used for the
isolation of those compound but the most common techniques are chromatographically techniques. The
chromatographical techniques includes Column chromatography, Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and High
Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). In column chromatography a glass column packed with silica gel is
used for the partitioning different fraction of plant extract. In TLC the non-volatile components are separated
using thin glass slide coated with silica run over mobile liquid phase. The slide is than observed under UV light

3
and Rf values of components re measured. In HPLC the components are separated between stationary (packed
column) and mobile phase using a very high pressure.

The characterization is the third and main step in the identification of a compound possessing any biological
activity. For characterization different spectrophotometrically techniques are used including Infrared spectra (IR),
Mass spectrometry (MS), and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). IR technique is mainly used for identification
of functional groups because this technique use vibration-rotational energy transition of molecules. MS technique
give mass to charge ratio of the compounds by ionizing it that’s why it is intensively use for the identification of
weight and formula of the compounds (Kumar et al., 2018). NMR is most important technique which gives us the
chemical structure of the compounds by using electromagnetic waves in a magnetic field (Monakhova et al., 2013

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Screening of medicinal plant for their antioxidant potential and phytochemical analysis was established
throughout the world to check their potential for the disease treatment. Large numbers of medicinal plants were
tested for their potential by variety of ways and method.

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING:

The Asteraceae is one of the largest family of plants containing more than 30,000 species, in over 1,900 genera,
Calendula is one of the important genus of this family includes approximately 25 different herbaceous annual and
perennial species, most common of which are Calendula officinalis Linn., C. arvensis Linn., C.
suffruticosa Vahl., C. stellata Cav., C. alata Rech., C. tripterocarpa Rupr. C. arvensis is one of the important
plants used in folk medicine all over the world, due to its interesting chemical composition. Many studies were
reported regarding its chemical composition by different methods such as the study by HPLC–DAD showed that
the plant is rich in term of flavonoids and phenol the most common are gallic acid and rutin, due to presence of
this the plant showed high antioxidant activity in different assay (reducing power, total antioxidant capacity,
FRAP, TEAC, β Carotene bleaching assay and DPPH free radical scavenging assay). The anti-bacterial and
anticandidal activities were also reported by using different strains of bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, S. aureus,
Salmonella typhimurium, E. coli , Bordetella bronchiseptica and Enterobacter aerogens) and fungi (Aspergillus
flavus, Fusarium solani, A. fumigatus, Mucor spp. and A. niger). The result of the study showed that the plant
exhibits high antioxidant and antibacterial activities where considerable anticandidal activities (Akhtar et al.,
2018; Abudunia et al., 2017).

Due to important phytochemicals this is extensively studied for the anti-tumor activities against different cell lines
such as MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 the result of the study showed that the plant act as anti-tumor drug by
shrinking the cell, detaching the cell, by fragmentation of nucleus, and by condensation of chromatin in cells. The
extract also prevent the movement of cultured cells in a scratch wounding assay which also confirmed that the
plant can be used as defense against metastasis. In in-vitro the plant also showed antimyeloid cancer activity
(Abutaha et al., 2019). Essential oil of C. arvensis is also very important and rich of many chemical consitutants a
lot of studies are reported on the essential oil composition of this plant and mny important chemical compunds
are repoted such as carbohydrates, terpenoids, carboxylic acid derivatives Sesquiterpenes, monoterpene, a-
selinene, a-pinene, Z-a-santalol, linolenic acid, d-amorphene, Z-sesquilavandulol, 7-epi-silphiperfol-5-ene,
viridiflorene and b-pinene in both GC-FID and GC-MS analysis. The screened compounds was also observed for
their biological activities such as antimicrobial against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus the compound
was also test for antituberculose activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis. In both the activities plant showed
significant activity against bacteria which showed that oil is good against antibiotic resistant bacteria and have
antituberculose properties (Tosun et al., 2011; Faustino et al., 2017).

Calendula officinalis Linn. is another very important and medicinally active plant of genus Calendula. A lot of
medicinal studies are carried out on the medicinal potential of this plant. And various important phytochemicals
are isolated from this plant including many Flavonoids, carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, phenolic
substances, tannins and saponins (Chakraborthy, 2010). In another study almost 45 different phytochemicals
were isolated from this plant by using HPLC–UV/VIS and HPLC–DAD–MSD, the important compounds were
mostly phenolic acids and flavonoids i.e. rosmarinic, ellagic acids, hesperidin, epigallocatechin gallate,
anthraquinone, phloroglucinol, β-carotene, lycopene, tannin, chlorophylls, derivatives and some other
phytosterols, saponins, and alkaloids.high content of flavonides give this plant strong ability to scavnage free
radical such as superoxide, nitric oxide and hydroxyl, to prevent the cellular damage and improve the quality by
holding back the lipid peroxidation (Verma et al., 2014). Some of the important isolated compounds were also
tested for the anti-obesogenic and hypolipidemic effect, the result of the study showed that the plant extract is a
potent against the cardiovascular diseases which are caused by obesity (Hernández-Saavedra et al., 2016).

The plants was also tested against the antimicrobial activity by using different bacterial strains ( Porphyromonos
gingivalis, Prevotella spp., Furobacterium nucleatum, Caphocytophaga gingivalis, Veilonella parvula,
Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Salmonella, Shigella dysenteriae, S. flexneri, S. sonnei and E. coli and Actinomyces
odontolyticus). Result of the study showed that the plant is extract is active against most of the tested bacteria
which make this plant a good candidate for the antibiotic formulation (Ghaima et al., 2013). Such as the extract of
this plant was also found effective aginst many fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus japonicum, Candida
albicans and Rhodotorula glutinis). The flowers and leaves ethanolic extracts was found most effective against the
fungus so this confirmed that the plant have good antifungal compounds. The different parts of this plants were
also observed to have the anti-parasitic activities, the leaves and flower extract of this plant showed effective
vermicidial activity against earth worm. The isolated compound oleanic acid, α-pinene, nerolidol showed effective
parasitic activity against intestinal roundworm, Listeria monocytogenes and against malarial parasites. The floral
extract was also found effective against Leishmania major in controlling cutaneous leishmaniasis. The ethanol

4
extract of plant was also effective against Boophilus (Nikmehr et al., 2014; Godara et al., 2015; Doligalska et al.,
2013).

Lactuca serriola L. is another very important plant of Asteraceae family and a member of Lactuca genus. It is a
big family of lettuce. This plant is also known as wild prickle lettuce. This plant is extensively used in unani and
ayurvedic system for the cure of different aliments. Due to medicinal value in herbal medicine system this plant is
studied by different scientists for its chemical composition and for biological activities. The phytochemical
analysis of this plant by TLC, GC/MS and HPLC-RID methods revealed the presence of many important phenolic,
alkaloid, terpenoid, Saponins, Flavonoids and Cardiac Glycosides, (Sesqui sabinene, Azuline,
fructooligosacharides, sesquiterpene lactone, α-Gurjunene, α-Ylangene, Cyperene, Junipene, trans-Calamenene,
β-Damascenone, Dehydrocyclolongifolene oxide, Ledene oxide-(II), Epiglobulol, Labda-8(20),12,14-triene,
isoshyobunone, isocembrol, alloaromadendrene oxide-1 and α-Bisabolol) (Ali et al., 2020; Abd-ElGawad et al.,
2019; Elsharkawy et al., 2014; Petkova and Denev, 2013). The plant also showed many primary metabolites i.e.
Anthocyanins, proline, soluble sugar, osmolytes, proteins, fatty acids and starch (Ebrahim et al., 2018).

Researchers also carried out experiments on the biological activities of L. serriola, such as the antioxidant
activity of this plant is observed by Abd-ElGawad et al. (2019) the research showed that the compound Diterpene
and Isocembrol play very major role in the scavenging of DPPH free radical, which proves that the plant have a
significant ability to protect the body against free radicals. The researcher also tried to enhance its free radical
scavenging ability by inducing transgenic hairy roots. The study showed that the induction of hairs by
Agrobacterium rhizogenes  increase the total phenolic content of the plant which in turn lead to the high
scavenging potential of free radical (El-Esawi et al., 2017). The plant is also studied in-vivo for Gastrointestinal,
Respiratory, and Vascular Ailments the result of the study showed that the extract cause relaxation in spastic
contractions, relax the trachea and induce contraction and suppress the contractile response (Janbaz et al., 2013).
The herbal remedies for diabetes mellitus is very interesting this plant is also tested for the anti-diabetic effect in
in-vivo, the result indicates significant restored β -cell function and insulin secretion which proves that the plant
is used as ant diabetic agent (Salih, 2019; Chadchan et al., 2015).

The anti-infalmmatory activity of this plant showed that the compound azulene play an important role in the
healing of inflammation in the study carried out by Elsharkawy et al., (2014). The antipseudomonal activity of this
plant was carried out on Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from different patients. The result of the study
indicates that the aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts of L. serriola showed dose-dependent antipseudomonal
activity. Which prove this plant as good anti-pseudomonal agent (Balogun et al., 2017). The antibacterial activity
of this plant was tested against different gram positive bacteria (S. aureus, S. saprophyticus and S. epidermidis),
the researcher indicate that due to high amount of phenolic and alkaloids the plant is good for inhibiting the
growth of the bacteria (Al-Marzoqi et al., 2015). The anti-tumor (Ehrlich ascites carcinoma) effect of this plant
was tested in-vivo in albino mice, after extract administration of plant extract the animal model showed improved
hematological parameters such as increased hemoglobin content, red and white blood cells (Alshathly and
Elsharkawy, 2014). The anti-venom activity of L. serriola against Buthus atlantis showed that the plant is good
anti-venom agent due to presence of polyphenol by restorating the lesions in the different tissues, and
counteracting of the serum enzyme imbalance (Bouimeja et al., 2019).

Genus Saussurea, is another very important genus of the Asteraceae family, includes about 400 species
distributed throughout Asia and Europe. Saussurea heteromalla is one of the important member of this genus
contains a lot of important chemical constituents reported by different researchers, polyphenol, alkaloid,
saponins, terpenoids and glycosides are most common. Isolated compounds by UV spectra, LC-MS and
NMR showed many well-known compounds the important are (Protopanaxanone di-O-arabinoside,
Dihydroprotopanaxadiol di-O-arabinonoside, arctigenin, arctiin and chlorjanerin) (Zhao et al., 2017; Saklani et
al., 2011).Some of the isolated compound such as arctigenin and arctiin showed anti-inflammatory activity, while
the compound chlorjanerin showed anti-viral activity. In some studies the chlorjanerin also showed the anti-
inflammatory activity by inhibiting TNF-α and IL-6 production in THP-1 cells (human acute monocyte leukemia
cell line). Thus prove that the plant is active in anti-inflammatory activity (Saklani et al., 2012). Researcher also
show that S. heteromalla is the good source of antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic agent. The antioxidant
activity through DPPH shows that the plant has good antioxidant ability. The cytotoxic potential was measured
against HeLa cells (Human cervical cancer) cell line by MTT assay the plant showed strong cytotoxic activity
against this cell line. The antimicrobial activity was checked against different bacterial strains and fungi (B.
subtilis, Serratia marecescens, S. aureus, Micrococcus luteus, P.aeruginosa, Strptotropomonas maltophilia, E. coli,
Salmonella typhi, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, C. albicans, C. glabrata) against all these strains the plant
showed good inhibition specially against gram negative (Batool et al., 2019).

Malvaceace is one of the important family of the medicinal plants. Many of its plant have medicinal activities. This
family is the rich source of secondary metabolite and still attract scientists to explore more phytochemicals from
its member. Specially the genus Malva, recently one of the member of this genus Malva neglecta is explored for
its chemical constituents by HPLC-DAD, result of the study revealed the presence of 25 different phenolic
compounds with high amounts of hydrotyrosol and coumaroylhexoside, moderate amount of kaempferol-3-(p
coumaroyldiglucoside)-7-glucoside, quercetin- 3-o-rutinoside and epicatechin-3-o-(4-o-methyl)-gallate. And the
GC-MS analysis showed the presence of, oleic acid, taurine, ethylene dimercaptan, isoeugenol, patchoulane and
lower amount of methyl 12-methyltetradecanoate and isopropyl myristate (Saleem et al., 2020). Some researcher
also showed that in GC-MS analysis the petroleum ether extract of M. neglecta contains high amount of fatty acid
constituents (97.9%) in petroleum ether extract, where’s in the LC-MS/MS analysis this plant showed the
presence of27 different phenolic compounds, in which the 4-OH benzoic acids was most abundant (Haşimi et al.,
2017).

5
In another study by Dalar et al. (2012) also showed the presence of high amount of phenolic compounds,
flavonoids, flavonols, hydroxycinnamic acids, anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins. Due to presence of high
mount of polyphenol in M. neglecta showed many important biological activities one of the important is
antioxidant potential of this this plant is assessed with different assay including oxygen radical absorbance
capacity and total ferric reducing antioxidant power. Result of study showed that the plant have high reducing
ability the IC50 of ORAC assay. In another study antioxidant capacity of this plant is measured by using ferric
thiocyanate (FTC) method, result showed that the plant exhibit IC 50 up to 77.3% and 74.1% compared with
standards antioxidants BHA, BHT and α-tocopherol (Güder and Korkmaz, 2012). Due to high Antioxidant
activities the plant also showed antimicrobial activities, the antimicrobial study of this plant against different
gram positive and negative bacteria’s and fungi (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Klebsiella
pneumonia, pseudomonas aerginosa, Bacillus cerus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani) showed that this plant is
potent for the treatment of antimicrobial disorders (Alqurashy, 2017). In another study the ethanolic extract of M.
neglecta along with the Althaea officinalis L. was tested on +ve bacterial strains (S. aureus). The finding of this
study also confirmed its use as antibiotic against bacterial disease due to considerable activity ( Jafari-Sales et al.,
2015).

Other members of Family Malvaceae are also screened for their chemical constituents such as Sida cordata
another very important plant of this, used widely in folk medicine for treatment of various ailments such as
hepatic disorder, digestive disorders and cholera. Study of total phenolic and flavonoids contents of this plant
showed the considerable amount of these chemical constituents along with the tannins and alkaloids. Due to high
amount of phenolic and flavonoids this plant, exhibit high antioxidant potential the antioxidant activity of plant
was evaluated by using different free radical such as DPPH radical scavenging, reducing power, Hydrogen
peroxide scavenging activity, Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, ABTS scavenging activity, Anti lipid per
oxidation activity, β - carotene bleaching scavenging activity, Phosphomolybdenum assay and Superoxide radical
scavenging activity. Study showed that the plant exhibit high antioxidant activity (Shah et al., 2013; Gulnaz and
Savitha, 2013).

The HPLC-DAD analysis of this plant confirmed the presence of many important polyphenol compounds in this
plant, the major of which were caffeic acid, Gallic acid and catechin. Which also confirmed that this plant is a
great source of metabolites and promised bioactive in health system. S. cordata also showed many biological
activities due to this reason this plant is also tested in-vivo in animal models such as in rats for renal toxicity the
study showed that this plant is good in reducing the toxicity by reducing the activity of antioxidant enzymes and
by increasing the concentration of thiobarbituric acid which reduce the renal injureies (Shah et al., 2017).

Polygonaceae is an important family of medicinal plants due to presence of high number of polyphenol its
member are rich in term of phytochemicals and biological activities. Such as Polygonum plebeium, is screened by
various researchers for its chemicals and showed high amount of flavonoids, essential oils, carbohydrates,
tannins, triterpenoids, unsaturated sterols, steroidal sapogenins (saponins), glycosides and alkaloids (Ahmad et
al., 2013). As the Phytochemical study of P. plebeium showed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides,
saponins, steroids and carbohydrates, antioxidant capacity of plant was evaluated by using Phosphomolybdenum
assay, DPPH radical scavenging assay, Nitric oxide scavenging assay, Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Capacity and
reducing power assay. The highest IC50 was observed in DPPH radical scavenging assay even higher than standard
ascorbic acid (Hasan et al., 2015). P. plebeium was also found interesting by many researcher for antimicrobial
study to control them. The plant was tested against various strains including E.coli, K. pneumoniae subsp.
Pneumonia. The study showed that the plant exhibits considerable antioxidant potential against these strain in
ethyl acetate solvent (Desouky et al., 2018). The plant was also tested in-vivo for anti-fibrotic effects and for
hepatoprotective activity in rats. The histological result of the study showed that the plant possess therapeutic
potential to prevent the fibrosis in inflammatory liver disease by decresing tumor growth potential and controlling
other activities at mRNA expression level (Atta ur Rehman et al., 2018).Another plant P. glabrum from the same
family revealed the existence of various important phyto-constituents such as β-hydroxyfriedalanol, 3-hydroxy-5-
methoxystilbene, pinocembrin and pinocembrin-5-methylether, sitosterol - (6-O-palmitoyl)- 3-O-β-D
glucopyranoside and sitosterol-3-O-β-D glucopyranoside, 2,3-dihydroxy isodrimeninol, Propane 1,1-diethoxy-,
alkane compound -2-Heptane, 5-ethyl-2,4-dimethyl, Tiophene-2-Carboxamide, N-(2-furfuryl), 1,14-
Tetradecanediol and 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, isodecyloctyl ester and 1,2,3-Benzenetriol (Raja and Ramya,
2017; Ezhilan and Neelamegam, 2011). The assessment of antioxidant activities of P. glabrum were done by using
DPPH assay, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, hydroxyl, superoxide anion, phosphomolybdate assay, Ferric
reducing assay and ABTS assay. The IC50 values for scavenging of DPPH and ABTS free radicals was high as
compared to other which showed that the plant have high antioxidant potential ( Raja and Ramya, 2017).As this
family is the rich source of polyphenol specially flavonoids 10 secondary metabolites, (quercetin 3- O-β-D-
glucucorinde, quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, myricetin and gallic acid) were isolated along with 3 new
flavonoids named as 3,5,7,2’,5’ pentahydroxyflavone 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, 3,5,7,2’,5’ pentahydroxyflavone 3-
O-β-D-glucopyranoside 8 C-sulphated and quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucucorinde 6''-methyl ester 8-sulphated in the
study by El-Toumy et al. (2016). The advance spectroscopic techniques also add contribution in
characterization of important chemical compounds of the plant such as the study on P. barbatum by these
techniques helps us to identify active anticancer compounds such as methyl 2S,3S-2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-4-(E-
3-ethoxy-3-oxoprop-1-en-1-yl)-7-methoxy-2,3dihydrobenzo-furan-3-carboxylate,2S,3S-4-(E-2-carboxyvinyl)-2-
(3,4dimethoxyphenyl)-7-hydroxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. These isolated compounds was
screened for the anti-cancer activity against oral cancer and lungs cancer cell lines by MTT assay the compound
was found effective against both cell lines. In the same study the plant also showed antiangiogenesis activity
(Farooq et al., 2019).Ipomoea purpurea belong to family Convolvulaceae, medicinally very important, the genus
Ipomoea, of this family is one of the largest genus with approximately 500-600 species. Most of the members of
this family are very well studied for their chemical constituents such as study on I. purpurea showed that it
contain many important phytochemical such as ipopurpuroside, cyanidins, marubajalapins, 3-O-(2-O-(6-O-E-
caffeoyl-β-Dglycopyranosyl))-(6-O-E-caffeoyl)-β-D-glycopyranosyl)-5-O-β-D-glycopyranoside-cianidin and

6
pelargonidins. Due to high amount of useful secondary metabolites the plant is rich in term of antioxidants and
the isolated compound showed greater amount of antioxidant activities (Meira et al., 2012). Ipomoea cairica is
also one of the important medicinal plant of genus Ipomoea bioassay guided study of this plant showed the
presence of important phytochemicals such as phenol, alkaloids, sterols, flavonoids, tannins, saponins,
Anthraquin, Terpenoids and Glycosides. Isolated compouds includes coumarins, scopoletin, umbelliferone,
lignans, arctigenin, matairesinol and trachelogenin, dibenzyl-g-butyrolactone, (+)-(8R,8′S)-thujaplicatin methyl
ether, trans-2,3-dibenzylbutyrolactone, vanillic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, methoxybenzoic acid,
methylparaben, stearic acid, palmitic acid, olenic acid, friedelinol and a mixture of β-sitosterol and stigmasterol
(Ralte, 2014). This plant was also evaluated for the antioxidant potential by using of different assays, Antioxidant
activities of leaf showed that this plant possess promising antioxidant activities in different extracts the higher IC 50
(Sahu et al., 2013).Another plant I. digitata L. was recently evaluated for its secondary metabolites by using
modern spectroscopic techniques (IR, NMR and MS). Two phytoconstituents, phytosterol (β-sitosterol glucoside,
Scopoletin and coumarin (7-Hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin) were found abundant and isolated. The in-vitro
antioxidant study on this plant by DPPH assay, Nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide assay showed that the plant
exhibits consider able amount of antioxidant activities (Ojha et al., 2020; Khan and Hossain, 2015). The seeds of
this plant was reported to contains gum, due to high medicinal effect the gum of this plant was also checked for
phytochemical compounds the researcher reported the presence of high amount of linear chain of β (1 → 4) linked
mannopyranosyl units and α-D-galactose units which is similar in composition with the guar gum, which is
previously reported to use in water transport and drug release.so by keeping this in mind the gum of this plant can
be used in pharmaceutical application (Singh et al., 2004). Due to high antioxidant potential this plant is also
checked for other biological activities such as, in- vitro antidiabetic effect by Krishna et al. (2013) during this
study they observe that I. digitata have the potential for inhibiting a-amylse activity. Which in turn lead to
decrease the digestion of starch due to which the antidiabetic activity decreases, but as compared to the standard
it is little less efficient.However the study on I. batatas shows the presence of trans-N-(p-
coumaroyl)tyramine, trans-N-feruloyltyramine, cis-N-feruloyltyramine, 4,5-
feruloylcourmaoylquinic acid, caffeic acid ethyl ester, 7-hydroxy-5-methoxycoumarin and 7,3′-
dimethylquercetin and indole-3-carboxaldehyde phytochemical with significant antioxidant
activity (Zhang et al., 2016). Due to presence of important phytochemicals (flavonoids, tannins,
anthocyanin and alkaloids) I. batatas was investigated for in-vivo in animal model for open
wound healing because these phytochemicals are helpful to increase the inflammatory phase and
also increase fibroblast proliferation. The result of the study showed that the extract of I. batatas
is significant in wound healing by increasing the collagen production (Ningrum et al., 2020).
This plant is also very comprehensively studied by different researchers by different extraction
techniques for different biological activities such as antioxidants, enzyme inhibitory activities,
anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic. The result of all these activities show that this plant is
good in antioxidant activities and inhibit different enzyme, ex-vivo study of anti-inflammatory
activity also give the idea that the plant could be used for anti-inflammatory activity. These
results also suggest that it is a good candidate for digestive disorder and for diabetes (Zengin et
al., 2017)Salvia moorcroftiana is herbaceous and perennial plant belongs to genus Salvia, one of the largest
genera from Lamiaceae family, consisting up of approximately 900 species. This plant mostly grows at high
altitude of approximately 6000-9000 feet. This genus is very important for their chemical composition and
medicinal effect, so its members attain high attention by different researchers. S. moorcroftiana is rich of
secondary metabolites different studies reported many important phytochemicals such as flavonoid glycosides
(genkwanin 4′‐[O‐α‐L‐rhamnopyranosyl‐(1→2)‐β‐D‐galactopyranoside], genkwanin 4′‐[O‐α‐L‐arabinopyranosyl‐
(1→3)‐α‐L‐rhamnopyranoside], ester, 3-oxodecan-1-o1 p-hydroxybenzoate , 4‐hydroxy‐2‐isopropyl‐5‐
methylphenyl O‐α‐L‐rhamnopyranosyl‐(1→2)‐β‐D‐glucopyranoside, and nonyl-4‐hydroxybenzoate, (Z)-β-
ocimene, sabinene, β-caryophyllene, germacrene D, bicyclogermacrene, α-humulene and α-copaene (Rather et al.,
2011; Zahid et al., 2002). S. moorcroftiana also exhibit many biological activities such as anti-inflammatory,
antipyretic and Analgesic. The anti-inflammatory activity of this plant is evaluated by carageenan-induced mice
paw edema. The antipyretic activity was evaluated by Brewer’s induced pyrexia. Analgesic activity was evaluated
acetic acid induced writhing test. The results of all these study showed that the S. moorcroftiana is a very active
against inflammation, pain and for fever (Hussain et al., 2017). The plant is also screened out for antimicrobial
and antioxidant activity the antimicrobial activity of plant against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans
and Aspergillus fumigatus showed that the plant has a considerable antifungal activities. While the free radical
scavenging activity by DPPH shows that the plant exhibits high potential to scavenge free radicals (Salah et al.,
2006). Family Caryophyllaceaeis an important family regarding its traditional use in folk medicine. Many of its
plants are extensively used for the treatment of lethal diseases such as bacterial, fungal, viral, cancer,
inflammation and for scavenging of free radical. Silene Conoidea L.is one of the important annual medicinal herb
of this family, belong to the largest genus Silene consisting up of about 700 species. This plant is rich in term of
secondary metabolites and the most important metabolites are  saponins, benzenoids, phenyl propanoids,
conoidene, C-Glycosylflavones, 8-C(4-O-α-Lrhamnopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyroanosyldiosmetin, 8-C-(4-O-α-L-
rhamnopyranosyl)-β-Dglucopyranosylapigenin, 1-2, α-spinasterol flavonoid’s glycosides and alkaloids all of these
compound were isolated by using HPLC technique followed by mass spectrometry (Wei et al., 2019; Chandra and
Rawat, 2015; Mamadalieva et al., 2014). Due to rich phytochemistry the plant S. Conoidea was extensively studied
for the different biological activities. The extract of this plant was tested against different bacteria’s ( P.
aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella paratyphi, S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli, K. pneumonia,
Morganella morganii, C. albicans, Yersinia pestis, Shigella sonnei, Micrococcus luteus, Listeria monocytogenes
and S. epidermidis) the result show that the is active against some of these strains, specially gram negative
(Shinwari et al., 2015; Datta et al., 2012). The plant is also tested against insecticidal activities, and the researcher
showed that the plant exhibits significant insect repllent activity against (Mosaddegh et al., 2012). The nutritional
study of this plant showed that the plant is abundant in Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, and Manganese. High amount
of soluble sugar, vitamin C and carotene where the heavy metal (lead and cadmium) are present at the safer
standard. Which further make this plant good for the utilization for medicinal purposes. Azadirachta indica is a

7
well-known medicinal plant belongs to family Meliaceae having tremendous bioactivities is recently again
explored for its phytochemicals and biological activities. The In vitro scavenging potential of free radical was
evaluated using DPPH and total antioxidant ability assays, FRPA assay. Result of the study showed that the plant
methanol extract of exhibits higher content of phytochemical compounds (alkaloid, flavonoids and phenols).
Which also increase the scavenging ability of this plant. However the HPLC analysis exhibited the presence of
azadirachtin compound. The study showed that the plant is a good candidate to protect the body against oxidative
stress and therefore can be used as a source of potent natural antioxidant compounds (Biney et al., 2020).
Phytochemical screening of crude extracts of Leucas marrubioides revealed the presence alkaloids, steroids,
triterpenes, flavonoids, tannins and phenolics, carbohydrates and glycosides in different extracts (Gowrish et
al., 2016). The antioxidant activity of different extracts were evaluated using DPPH radical scavenging, reducing
power and nitric oxide scavenging methods. The results indicated that, different extracts of this plant possess
promising antioxidant activity as compared to the standard but the highest IC 50 were observed in DPPH radical
scavenging (280.9±4.67 µg/mL) with compassion with standard gallic acid (245.3±5.75 µg/mL) (Gowrish et al.,
2015).

Viola canescens Wall. ex Roxb. belongs to Violaceae family is one of the important medicinal plant study by
different researcher on this plant showed that it contain variety of phytochemicals such as Alkaloids Phytosterols,
triterpenoids, Phenol, Flavonoids, Tannins, Saponins and Anthocyanins (Barkatullah et al., 2012). In another
study screening of this plant revealed the presence of phytochemical include methylsalicylate, alkaloid violin,
glycoside viola quercitrin, saponins, and glucosides (Rana et al., 2010). Another species V. betonicifolia from this
genus in phytochemical showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, proteins, phenolic compounds,
saponins, sterols and triterpenoids (Muhammad et al.,2012). Antioxidant activities of V. betonicifolia was tested
by using DPPH assay the result showed that the antioxidant activities of plant increase with higher concentration
and IC50 value is higher than standard BHA (Muhammad and Saeed, 2011).V. odorata phytochemical analysis
showed that the plant is rich in term of secondary metabolites total phenolic (35.4 mg/g) and total flavonoid (22.8
mg/g) content were as following, instead of this they also contain alkaloids, steroids, tannins, flavonoids, and
saponins in their aerial parts (Ebrahimzadeh et al., 2010). Isolated compounds include, Cyanidin 3-glycosides, 3-
O-[-L-Rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-Dglucopyranoside], CycloViolacin O1, CycloViolacin O10, CycloViolacin O11,
CycloViolacin O3, CycloViolacin O4, CycloViolacin O6, CycloViolacin O7, CycloViolacin O8, CycloViolacin O9, 2,4-
Dimethyldodecane, 3,4-Dimethylheptane, 2,5-Heptadien-1-ol, 1-Octadecene, 5,10-Pentadecadien-1-ol, 2,2,6,6-
Tetramethyl-4-piperidinone, Violacin A, Vitri peptide A; 11-L-Serine analogue, Vodo peptide M, Vodo peptide N
(Karioti et al., 2011).Plants of genus Leucas (Lamiacae) have been widely used by the traditional therapists to cure
many diseased conditions which implied that this genus have potential for the discovery of new drugs and
phytochemicals. Study on the Lucas aspera (Willd.) Linn. from this genus showed the presence of fatty acid
esters, fatty acid amide, triterpene, diterpene alcohols and phytol as the major chemical groups, the compounds
isolated include Phytol, 9, 12, 15-Octadecatrienoic acid, methyl ester (z, z, z), n-Hexadecanoic acid, Squalene and
1, 2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2-methylpropyl) ester (Anandan, et al., 2012). Another study on this plant
showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, saponins, glycosides, phlobatannins. The
antioxidant effect of their leaves revealed the IC 50 (99.58±1.22µg/mL) whixh is higher than the standard ascorbic
acid (Rahman and Islam, 2013).Plantago lanceolata belong to family Plantaginaceae, having Extensive
traditional use and modern medicinal application. Most of the members of this family have biological activities.
Study on P. lanceolata showed that the plant is rich in term of phytochemical such as p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic,
gallic, chlorogenic acid, apigenin, luteolin and luteolin-7-O-glucoside are indicated. This plant also have some
biological activities the antioxidant study of this plant revealed that the IC 50 value for lipid peroxidation assay was
24.83 1.77μg/ml and for free radical scavenging was 109.80 6.57μg/ml as compared with the standard
butylated hydroxytoluene. Another species Plantago altissima L., of the same family was investigated for their
antioxidant potential different assay were used including DPPH radical, hydroxyl-radical, superoxide anion and
NO scavenger capacity, lipid peroxidation and FRAP assay, result of the study showed highest IC 50 with lipid
peroxidation assay 177.71 9.5 μg/ml as compared to the standard BHT (Beara et al., 2012).

Phytochemical study on Plantago asiatica L. result in identification of seven phenolic compounds, vanillic acid, p-
hydroxybenzoic acid, (7S,8R)-dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol 9'-β-D glucopyranoside, plantamajoside, desrhamnosyl
acteoside, calceorioside B and 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethyl 3-O-β-D-allopyranosyl-6-O-caffeoyl-β-D-
glucopyranoside. Due to high amount of phenolic the plant also exhibits antioxidant activities the antioxidant
activities were measured by ORAC method the result of the study showed that the plant exhibit considerable
amount of antioxidant activities (Amakura et al., 2012). In another study the polysaccharides from P.
asiatica were subjected for antioxidant activities. The scavenging rates of the polysaccharides on superoxide and
1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals were79.7% and 81.4% approximately similar to ascorbic acid 83.5% and
85.1%, respectively (Ye et al., 2011).

Willowherb (Epilobium spp.) belong to family Onagraceae is a flowering plant that has been traditionally used in
folk medicine due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Different studies showed that the plant E.
hirsutum, E. parviflorum contain many important phytochemical, tannins, flavonides and polyphenolic
compounds such as gallic acid, ellagic acid, and quercetin (Raal et al., 2010) in addition to this also conatain
oenothein B and myricetin-3-O-rhamnoside. Antioxidant study of these plant also showed that the plant have
considerable antioxidant activities. The IC 50 value for Lioxygenase are 16μg/ml and 28μg/ml which shows that it
inhibits lipid peroxidation in human body (Kiss et al., 2011). In another study on E. hirsutum was analyzed for its
antioxidant activity by different assays (CUPRAC assay, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power, ABTS and DPPH).
The higher IC50 was showed in CUPRAC and DPPH assay (Cando et al., 2013).

Another species E. angustifolium is one of the best known medicinal plants and has been used worldwide in
traditional medicine. It is also commonly known as fireweed or rosebay willow-herb. They contain phytochemical
such as oenothein B and quercetin-3-O-glucuronide, Flavonoids include flavonol aglycones (quercetin,
kaempferol, myricetin) and flavonoid glycosides, such as afzelin (kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside), juglalin

8
(kaempferol-3-O-arabinofuranoside), avicularin (quercetin-3-O-α-arabinofuranoside), hyperoside (quercetin-3-
O-galactoside), isoquercetin (quercetin-3-O-glucoside), quercitrin (quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside), myricitrin
(myricetin-3-O-rhamnoside) and miquelianin (quercetin-3-O-glucuronide) (Monschein et al., 2015). Phenolic
acids present in E. angustifolium  include 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid and its methyl ester, protocatechuic,
ellagic acid, octyl gallate, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 6-O-galloyl-glucose, 1,2,6-O-trigalloyl glucose, and 1,2,3,4,6-O-
pentagalloyl glucose (Karakurt et al., 2016).

Family Zygophyllaceae is represented by 25 genera and 240 species confined to tropical, subtropical and warm
temperate, most often in dry areas of the world. All plants of this family and particularly genus Fagonia are of
great interest to pharmacists as preliminary pharmacological studies proved that these plants have efficient
medicinal potential for the treatment of broad spectrum health disorders (Ahmed et al., 2013). Preliminary
qualitative phytochemical analysis of F. cretica shows the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins,
tannins, coumarins, sterols, glycosides and three important vitamins, i.e., riboflavin (B2), niacin (B5) and ascorbic
acid (C) in different polar and non-polar extracts (Hussain et al., 2011). Isolated compounds include docosyl
docosanoate, b-sitosteryl-3-O-b-D-(60-hexadecanoyl)-glucopyranoside, Linoleic acid, methyl triacantanoate,
taraxerol, b-Amyrin acetate, oleanolic aldehyde acetate, octacosonic acid, triacontanoic acid, taraxerone, 2a,3a,23
trihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid (arjunolic acid), 3a,23-dihydroxyrus-12-en-28-oic acid.

Another study on this plant showed that F. cretica contain important flavonoids, (kaempferol-7-O-rhamnoside
and acacetin-7-Orhamnoside and four triterpenoidal glycosides, namely 3-O-b-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-a-L-
arabinopyranosideoleanolic acid, 3-O-a-L arabinopyranosylquinovic acid 28-O-b-Dglucopyranoside, 3-O-[b-D-
glucopyranosyl-(1→2)]-b-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-a-l-arabinosyl oleanolic acid, 3-O-b-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-
a-L-arabino-pyranosylquinovic acid 28-O-b-D-glucopyranoside). Four new triterpenoid saponins viz., 3-O-[b-D-
glucopyranosyl (1→2)-a-L-arabinopyranosyl] hederagenin 28-O-b-D-glucopyranosyl ester, 3-O-[b-D-
glucopyranosyl (1→2)-a-L-arabinopyranosyl] oleanolic acid 28-O-[b-D-glucopyranosyl (1→6)-b-D-
glucopyranosyl] ester, 3-O-[b-Dglucopyranosyl (1→2)-a-L-arabinopyranosyl] 27-hydroxy oleanolic acid 28-O-[b-
D-glucopyranosyl (1→6)-b-D-glucopyranosyl] ester, 3b-O-[b-D-glucopyranosyl (1→2)-a-L-arabinopyranosyl]
olean-12-en-27-al-28-oic acid 28-O-[b-D-glucopyranosyl (1→6)-b-D-glucopyranosyl] ester (Khalik et al., 2000).

Antioxidant study of F. cretica showed the plant exhibit significant antioxidant activities. Different parts of the
plant were tested for their antioxidant activities in different extracts. In all extract the plant parts showed
considerable activities (Iqbal et al., 2014). Another species of this genus F. olivieri is also subjected for antioxidant
activity in different fractions result showed that the high antioxidant activities were observed in methylated spirit
extract the IC50 were in 10.69±1.66 μg/ml followed by methanol fraction 9.10±0.76 μg/ml (Shad et al., 2017). F.
schweinfurthii antioxidant showed that the in different antioxidant assay the better activities were showed in
DPPH radical scavenging Assay the IC50 was (200.27.34 mg/ml) as compared to the ascorbic (7.30.46 mg/ml)
and BHA (13.731.62 mg/ml) (Pareek et al., 2013).