Identification of potential bioactive phytochemicals, antioxidant properties and anticancer pathways of Terminalia ferdinandiana pulp

Abstract

Fruits contain natural compounds which are useful for therapeutic effects. Phytochemicals are secondary metabolites created by plants during their biosynthetic pathways with a wide range of antifungal, antiviral, anticancer, and antibacterial activities. This research was carried out to examine the antioxidant properties and bioactive phytochemicals of Terminalia ferdinandiana, as well as to investigate its anticancer processes using a network pharmacology strategy. Several phytochemicals were found during GC-MS and LC-MS/MS investigation of non-hydrolyzed samples (with SPE, without SPE), and hydrolyzed (with SPE, without SPE) fractions. The GC-MS-based analysis identified the furoic acid, pentanoic acid, levulinic acid, p-hydroxy benzoic acid, gallic acid, and ellagic acid in the pulp extract. Moreover, LC-MS/MS-based investigation explored the presence of ellagic acid, chebulagic acid, chebulinic acid, resveratrol, catechin, p-coumaric acid, epicatechin, and gallic acid in the extract. By using the network pharmacology strategy, 100 target genes, including top hub genes associated with cancer-associated pathways were predicted. These targeted genes are mainly associated with cancer, cellular signaling, metabolism, and immunity-associated pathways. Based on the molecular docking approach, we revealed the bioactive phytochemicals that interact with hub target proteins, including AKT1, VEGFA, STAT3, SRC, and ESR1. Identification of bioactive phytochemicals and their predicted target genes may play crucial roles in the exact field of nutrigenomics, functional foods, and nutraceuticals from this natural fruit.

Keywords

• Terminalia ferdinandiana
• Bioactive phytochemicals
• Network pharmacology
• Molecular docking