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Clausena excavata Burm. is an important medicinal plant belonging to the family Rutaceae. It is well known for its ethnomedicinal uses and therapeutic activities. This plant has been used in different traditional systems of medicine for the treatment of various diseases worldwide. In the present study, the chemical composition of essential oil and phytochemical contents of methanol extract of C. excavata leaf were performed. Further, the therapeutic activities of essential oil and methanol extract of C. excavata leaf were evaluated. The chemical composition of essential oil was analyzed by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Myristicin (33.92%), terpinolene (21.29%), and sabinene (13.65%) were found to be the major compounds in leaf essential oil. Similarly, the phytochemical composition of the methanol extract of C. excavata leaf was analyzed using standard procedures. The phenolic content (165.23 mg GAE/g DW) was found to be the major phytoconstituents followed by alkaloids (89.30 mg/g DW) in leaf methanol extract. Furthermore, the antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil and methanol extract were evaluated. C. excavata essential oil showed more antioxidant activity (DPPH IC50 15.92 μg/mL; ABTS IC50 41.85 μg/mL; FRAP IC50 39.9 μg/mL) compared to leaf methanol extract. Similarly, essential oil exhibited higher antidiabetic activity (in terms of α-amylase inhibitory capacity) (IC50 97.50 μg/mL) compared to methanol extract and lower antidiabetic activity in comparison to the standard (IC50 71.9 μg/mL). The anticancer activity of essential oil was found to be more effective against the PC-3 cell line (IC50 39.1 μg/mL) while leaf methanol extract was more effective against OVCAR-3 (IC50 47.5 μg/mL), MCF-7 (IC50 48.1 μg/mL), and h-1299 (IC50 45.9 μg/mL). C. excavata essential oil exhibited lower antimicrobial activity compared to leaf methanol extract. In summary, this study on the characterization of phytoconstituents and pharmacological activities of C. excavata leaf essential oil could be helpful in exploiting its therapeutic potential sustainably as well as the discovery of new lead molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curcuma amada Roxb. is a valuable medicinal herb with food, economic, pharmaceutical, and industrial value. This plant is commonly propagated through rhizome which is season dependent and slow process. Moreover, rhizomes are easily infected by different soil-borne pathogen, which deteriorates the quality and quantity of production. Hence, this study was carried out to develop one step plant regeneration protocol using rhizomatic bud on meta-Topolin (mT) supplemented medium. About 600 plants were produced on Murashige and Skoog (1962) (MS) medium added with 3.0 mg/L mT after twelve weeks of culture. Well rooted plants were successfully hardened (95%) and subsequently all the plants were established in the field. Quantitative phytochemical analysis and assessment of chemical composition of essential oil by Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) confirmed the biochemical fidelity of the field-established tissue culture plants. Robust therapeutic activities such as antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities were found in the rhizome extract and essential oil of the field-established tissue culture plants. It was concluded that tissue cultured plants are at par with the mother plant in terms of phytochemicals composition and therapeutic activity. Thus, this protocol could be useful for the production of a large number of plants aiming for its conservation, propagation as well as sustainable utilization in food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. • Micropropagation protocol was developed for C. amada using rhizomatic explant. • Phytochemical of rhizome and chemical composition of rhizome essential oil was analyzed. • Therapeutic activities i.e., antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial activity were studied. • Filed-established tissue culture plants were found stable based on phytochemical and pharmacological studies. • This protocol could be useful for large scale propagation as well as sustainable utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]