Nature's healing palette: Unlocking the mysteries of Cheilanthes bicolor (Roxb) Fraser-Jenkins: A journey into phytochemical diversity and potent biological actions

Abstract

The exploration of plants' potential as sources of novel medications, nutritious foods, and nutraceuticals as well as a comprehension of their functions in conventional medicine and human health phytochemical screening is a fundamental step. Cheilanthes bicolor is one of the native plants in Nepal, so we need to unlock the hidden potential of this plant. The goal of this study was to assess the phytochemical analysis, antioxidant, and antibacterial of plant extracts (root and frond) in different solvent systems (methanol, 50% methanol, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, and hexane). Phytochemicals screening revealed the presence of an array of secondary metabolites including polyphenol flavonoids, phenolics, coumarin tannins, terpenoids, glycoside, reducing sugar, etc. in both the frond and root, total phenolic, flavonoid, tannin and sugar content test indicate that all are found to higher in ethyl acetate extract than other extract except total sugar content it was found to be higher in methanol and 50% methanol extracts of frond than root extract. The IC50 values from 2, 2-diphenyl -1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay of extract indicate noteworthy antioxidant potential. Antibacterial teste demonstrated modest activity against Gram-positive bacteria and antifungal activity. Ultra-performance Liquid chromatography- electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) analysis of methanol extract allowed the identification of compounds with molecular formulas, (C28H45O9, C22H21O11, C17H13O6, C26H43O6, and C27H39N4O2). Comparison between fronds and roots it seems that frond is more effective than root. As far as we are aware, there has rare investigation of Cheilanthes bicolor. Here, many active phytoconstituents were identified during phytochemical research, which might be extracted and studied in future studies to generate strong medications and the current study adds the protective effect of Cheilanthes bicolor fronds as a powerful antioxidant and antibacterial agent.