Methanol and hexane extracts of leaves of Moringa oleifera and aerial parts of Alternanthera sessilis were screened for the presence of different classes of phytoconstituents. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, terpenoids, polyphenols, glycosides, and coumarins in methanol extracts. Volatile oils, quinines, and phytosterols were absent in all extracts and saponins were present in all extracts. The biological activity of all the extracts was tested by performing brine shrimp bioassay. All the extracts except hexane extract of Moringa oleifera were found to be cytotoxic against brine shrimp nauplii. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay was used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the extracts. Methanol extracts of Moringa oleifera showed the strongest antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 65.77 μg/mL. Regarding the ascorbic acid (IC50 value 39.53 μg/mL) as standard, methanol extracts of both plants showed high free radical scavenging activity than that of hexane extracts.

Turmeric, Curcuma longa L., is a type of medicinal plant characterized by its perennial nature and rhizomatous growth. It is a member of the Zingiberaceae family and is distributed across the world’s tropical and subtropical climates, especially in South Asia. Its rhizomes are highly valued for food supplements, spices, flavoring agents, and yellow dye in South Asia since ancient times. It exhibits a diverse array of therapeutic qualities that encompass its ability to combat diabetes, reduce inflammation, act as an antioxidant, exhibit anticancer properties, and promote anti-aging effects. In this study, organic extracts of C. longa rhizomes were subjected to HPLC separation followed by mass spectrometry analysis. The Global Natural Product Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) approach was utilized for the first time in this ethnobotanically important species to conduct an in-depth analysis of its metabolomes based on their fragments. A total of 30 metabolites including 16 diarylheptanoids, 1 diarylpentanoid, 3 bisabolocurcumin ethers, 4 sesquiterpenoids, 4 cinnamic acid derivatives, and 2 fatty acid derivatives were identified. Among 16 diarylheptanoids identified in this study, five of them are reported for the first time in this species.