Phytochemical profiling, antioxidant and antimicrobial investigations on Viburnum simonsii Hook. f. & Thoms, an unexplored ethnomedicinal plant of Meghalaya, India

Abstract

Abstract Background Viburnum simonsii Hook. f. & Thoms is one of the 17 Viburnum species reported from India. Viburnum species such as Viburnum opulus and Viburnum grandiflorum have been used since time immemorial to treat various ailments and their therapeutic claims have been scientifically validated. However, the species under investigation despite having a long traditional usage history for the treatment of various illnesses in Meghalaya, India has grossly remained unexplored to date. No scientific report validating its therapeutic claim has been reported thus far. Therefore, the present study was mainly focused on investigating the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of V. simonsii and its phytochemical profile. Result Preliminary phytocompound assessment revealed the presence of alkaloids, phenolics, steroids, glycoside and terpenoids. The fruit extract displayed good antioxidant activity with phenolic and flavonoid content of 250.20 ± 8.12 mgGAE/g and 40.65 ± 1.31 mgQE/g respectively, and IC50 value of 131.35 ± 1.71 µg/ml. In antimicrobial assay, inhibitory activity was observed against gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) with 17.80 ± 0.80 mm and 15.78 ± 2.62 mm zone of inhibition respectively. However, no activity was observed against gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica) as well as fungus (Candida albicans). The absorption bands in the FTIR spectra of the sample corresponded to the presence of primary and secondary alcohols, alkanes, amines, aliphatic ethers, etc. Further, the GC–MS analysis revealed the presence of phytocompounds such as neophytadiene, β-sitosterol, α-amyrin, lupeol, etc., which have bioactivity especially anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Conclusions The findings of the present study demonstrated that V. simonsii possessed appreciable antioxidant and antimicrobial activity and may be a potential target for pharmaceutical research.