Nutraceutical and biological attributes of wild Withania coagulans fruits

The present research reports antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of various solvent extracts, recovered from the fruits of wild Withania coagulans, which are wildly distributed in the Balochistan, Pakistan. The yield of crude concentrated extract (CCE) from the investigated fruits was found in the range of 1.90-4.43g/100g dry matter. The CCEs, recovered from the fruits of Withania coagulans, were found to contain considerable amount of total phenolic (210-257 g/100g gallic acid equivalent) and total flavonoid contents (156-201 g/100 g catechin equivalent). The CCE, recovered from the fruits of wild Withania coagulans, also displayed an appreciable DPPH radical scavenging potential with IC₅₀ value ranged from16-23 mg/ml and exhibited good potential to inhibit the process of peroxidation (48-68%). The highest antioxidant and antimicrobial potential against a panel of pathogenic microorganisms (bacterial and fungal strains), was exhibited by aqueous ethanol CCE (80: 20; ethyl alcohol: water) while the minimum showed by the CCE, recovered with absolute methanol. The findings of this research project showed that the fruits of wild Withania coagulans can be utilize as a promising source of antioxidant and antimicrobial agents for the development of functional food and nutraceuticals.