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2000
Volume 26, Issue 9
  • ISSN: 1389-2010
  • E-ISSN: 1873-4316

Abstract

Background

Several medicinal plants are identified as therapeutic agents for the world’s most deadly disease cancer. A member of the “Cucurbitaceae” family of medicinal plants, () has various pharmacological actions.

Aims and Objectives

In the present study we have focused on the phytochemical analysis, antimicrobial, anticancer and investigation of fruit extracts of C. colocynthis. The chloroform, pure ethanolic and ethanolic extracts of whole fruit, peel and pulp separately have been investigated.

Methods

The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, phenols, saponins and glycosides in various parts of the fruit. Some compounds have been identified using GC-MS analysis by comparing with NIST library data. The antimicrobial activity of all extracts was checked by agar well diffusion method against five different bacterial strains such as , and . The zone of inhibition (ZOI) ranged between 11 mm to 27 mm against different strains.

Results

The polar solvent extracts (ethanolic and ethanolic extract) of peel showed good sensitivity against all bacterial strains as compared to non-polar solvent (chloroform extract), which showed activity only against and . The cytotoxic activity of all extracts against human brain cancer cell lines (U-87) was assessed using MTT assay.

Conclusion

The % cell viability of ethanolic (ET-PL), and aq. ethanolic extract of whole fruit and pulp showed promising results. The cancerous cell line U-87 seems to be more sensitive towards polar solvents (ethanolic and aq. ethanolic) pulp extracts than peel. Further, based on results, compounds identified in ET-PP were screened for their potential as antibacterial and anticancer agents through molecular docking and MMGBSA studies. These studies strongly supported the in-vitro study results and identified new drug candidates.

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Biochemical Screening, In-vitro and In-silico Characterization of Citrullus colocynthis Fruit Extracts: A Combined Experimental and Computation Study
Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology 26, 1392 (2025); https://doi.org/10.2174/0113892010332012241027022502
/content/journals/cpb/10.2174/0113892010332012241027022502
/content/journals/cpb/10.2174/0113892010332012241027022502
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  • Article Type:     Research Article
Keyword(s): antibacterial activity; anticancer potential; Citrullus colocynthis; computational study; GC-MS; phytochemicals

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