Background: Medicinal plants are a source of phytochemicals and they are used for the treatment of several oxidative stress-related or other diseases for their effectiveness, low toxicity and easy availability. Five traditionally used and less characterized herbaceous weeds of West Bengal, India, namely, Heliotropium indicum, Tridax procumbens, Cleome rutidosperma, Commelina benghalensis and Euphorbia hirta, were investigated for the current research study. Methods: Aqueous and 70% ethanolic extracts of the leaves were analyzed for estimation of essential phytochemicals and to evaluate their in vitro antioxidant status, medicinal properties and cytotoxic effects. To the best of our knowledge, several assays and comparative evaluations using these herbs are reported for the first time. For quantitative study, UV-vis spectrophotometry and high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector HPLC-DAD techniques were used. Antibacterial properties were investigated using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. For in vitro anti-lithiatic study, a titration method was used. The cell viability assay was done using peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Results: The aqueous extract exhibits higher content of polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins and inhibition percentage values for free radical scavenging assays, whereas the 70% ethanolic extract exhibits higher content of alkaloids and cardiac glycosides. HPLC-DAD analysis of 70% ethanolic extracts led us to identify 10 predominant phenolic constituents. Euphorbia hirta extracts showed minimum cytotoxicity (cell death ~2.5% and 4% in water and 70% ethanolic extract, respectively), whereas Cleome rutidosperma and Tridax procumbens’ 70% ethanolic extracts showed higher cell death (~13% and 28%, respectively), compared with the control (cell death ~10-12%). Conclusions: The study concluded that of all the medicinal weeds selected for the current study, Euphorbia hirta possesses the highest amount of bioactive compounds and hence exhibits the highest in vitro antioxidant activity and promising in vitro medicinal properties.

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The field of nanotechnology is the most renowned area of research in modern day science. One of the most convenient and comprehensive technique related to the synthesis of nanoparticles using plant extracts and their subsequent action. On the other hand, herbal medicines become an integral part of modern-day treatment strategy around the globe; combination of these two ways are widely accepted and beneficial due to its low cost, better societal recognition and less side effects. Phytochemical analysis revealed that leaf aqueous extract of two medicinal plants Oldenlandia corymbosa and Ocimum sanctum, harbours high concentration of antioxidants and bioactive molecules. Hence our present course of study aims at the green synthesis of silver nano-conjugates using Oldenlandia corymbosa and Ocimum sanctum leaf aqueous extracts. The synthesized nano-conjugates have undergone advanced chara-cterization techniques including UV-Vis Spectro-photometry, DLS, and FT-IR. The UV-Vis spectroscopy results showed single peak at 420 nm and 430 nm for Oldenlandia corymbosa and Ocimum sanctum nano-conjugates, respectively. The particle size for Oldenlandia corymbosa and Ocimum sanctum nano-particles are 21.04 nm and 24.36 nm, respectively as observed from the DLS data, and finally, the FT-IR data confirms the conjugation of bioactive molecules of the medicinal plants indicating that primary amines, secondary amines, alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, aliphatic amines, alkenes, functional groups of the bioactive molecules are responsible for the stability of prepared silver nano-conjugates

Herbs are an important source of bioactive substances. These are widely used to treat several disorders for better function in the human body, minimum toxic effects, and widespread availability. A total of two medicinal herbs from West Bengal, India, such as Oldenlandia corymbosa (Diamond flower) and Ocimum sanctum (Holy basil), are being considered for inclusion in the current study. Hydroalcoholic extracts (70% ethanolic) of the two plants' leaves were analyzed to detect and quantify important phytochemical substances and investigate in vitro antioxidant and pharmacological effects. Spectrophotometric and HPLC-DAD techniques were used for the quantitative estimation of different phytochemicals. In addition, in vitro antimicrobial properties were studied using the Kirby-Bauer paper disc diffusion method. Several assays have been performed on the medicinal plant Oldenlandia corymbosa (OC). The results have been compared to those obtained from a traditional medical plant, Ocimum sanctum (OS) for the first time to our knowledge. Results showed that OS contains a higher quantity of polyphenols, flavonoids, and has higher antioxidant potential with respect to OC. Similar trends were observed for polysaccharides contents. In contrast, OC contains a higher quantity of tannins, alkaloids, and protein and higher in vitro antibacterial and anti-diabetic properties. HPLC-DAD-based profiling of eight important phenolic constituents viz. Gallic acid, catechin hydrate, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, syringic acid, p-coumaric acid, sinapic acid, coumarin, quercetin, and kaempferol, were performed. The current study concluded that Oldenlandia corymbosa has many bioactive phenolics in considerable amounts compared to the highly established medicinal herb OS leaves extracts. The current study demonstrates the pharmacological significance of Oldenlandia corymbosa that may generate enthusiasm among researchers and those working in the pharmaceutical industry.