Table 3.
In vitro studies reporting the effect of different Prosopis across the globe.
| Species | Model | Plant Part | Formulation/Dosage | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antioxidant | |||||
| P. alba | In vitro method | Edible pods | The sugar-free polyphenolic extracts of and obtained from edible pods and anthocyanins enriched extracts | Polyphenolic extracts of P. alba exhibited activity against a pro-inflammatory enzyme | [10] |
| P. chilensis | In vitro method | Seeds | Seeds were pressurized at 500 MPa during 2, 4, 8 and 10 min. | Antioxidant activity, mineral and starch content and bioaccessibility of samples were significantly affected by the processing and digestion conditions. All treatments enhanced the bioaccessibility of the antioxidant activity (IC50), minerals (dialysis and solubility) and starch (resistant and digestible) as compared to the untreated sample | [38] |
| P. cineraria | In vitro method | Stem bark | Methanolic extract of was analyzed and compared with ascorbic acid as reference 10.52 μg/mL (y = 0.4992x + 101.25, 0.9921) and result is 193.54 μg/mL | MPCL can be used as easily an accessible source of natural antioxidants and as a possible food supplement or in pharmaceutical industry | [39] |
| P. farcta | In vitro method | Aerial part | Oven dried material was grounded into powder (1.5 kg). Powdered materials were soaked in MeOH for 72 h followed by filtration and evaporation. Resulting crude extract was further used for solvent extraction using n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. | P. farcta inhibited ABTS radical in 83.1, 82.0, 87.2 and 87.0%, respectively, for the n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts, respectively, when compared to ascorbic acid (89.2%) | [40] |
| P. flexuosa | In vitro method | DNA binding effect was found mainly in the basic fraction. The alkaloids tryptamine as well as piperidine and phenethylamine derivatives were isolated from the basic extracts. | At 0.50 mg/mL, DNA binding activities ranged from 28% for tryptamine to 0–27% for the phenethylamine and 47–54% for the piperidine derivatives. Tryptamine and 2-β-methyl-3-β-hydroxy-6-β-piperidinedodecanol displayed moderate inhibition (27–32%) of β-glucosidase at 100 μg/mL. The exudate of P. flexuosa displayed a strong free radical scavenger effect in the DPPH discoloration assay, with the main active constituent identified being catechin | [41] | |
| P. juliflora | In vitro method | Leaves | Ethanol extract of was investigated for antioxidant activity using in vitro DPPH assay. | Better antioxidant activity (61.55 ± 1.02 RSA %) was found as compared to the control of propyl gallate levels (88 ± 0.07 RSA %) | [26] |
| P. laevigata | In vitro method | Leaves | Leaves were extracted with aqueous acetone (70%) and the polar extract was purified in Sep-Pak® Cartridges and used for evaluation of their fractions. | Significant variations were stated to antioxidant activity among fractions and crude extracts using scavenging hydroxyl and DPPH radical assays | [42] |
| P. nigra | In vitro method | Edible pods | The sugar-free polyphenolic extracts of and obtained from edible pods and anthocyanins enriched extracts | Extract demonstrated antioxidant activity. Polyphenolic extracts exhibited activity against a pro-inflammatory enzyme | [10] |
| Analgesic | |||||
| P. cineraria | In vitro hot-plate method and tail-immersion methods | Roots | Ethanolic extract doses (200 and 300 mg/kg, orally) were selected to study the analgesic activity. | Extracts prevented analgesic property for hot plate and tail immersion method. P. cineraria roots extract at 200 mg/kg was comparatively more effective at higher dose (300 mg/kg body weight) using both assays | [43] |
| Cardioprotective | |||||
| P. laevigata | In vitro method | Leaves | Acetone extracts and purified fractions were dewaxed with petroleum ether and extracted with aqueous acetone (70%); the polar extract was purified and their fractions analyzed | Significant variations among fractions and crude extracts were found in antioxidant capacity by scavenging hydroxyl and DPPH assays. Purified fractions displayed antihypertensive activity, preventing angiotensin converting enzyme and low-density lipoprotein oxidation | [42] |
| Antiplasmodial | |||||
| P. cineraria | Chloroquine (CQ)-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 strain and cytotoxicity against THP-1 cell line | Leaves, stem, flowers and roots | Extraction with methanol, chloroform, hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous sequentially. These extracts were tested in vitro against laboratory adopted P. falciparum 3D7 strain. The crude extracts were also tested for their cytotoxicity against THP-1 cell line. | Ethyl acetate extract of leaf, stem, flower and root and chloroform extract of root showed IC50 values from 5 to 50 μg/mL with good antimalarial activity. Chloroform extracts of leaf, stem, flower and the aqueous extracts of stem, flower and root showed IC50 values of 50–100 μg/mL. The ethyl acetate extract of flower (IC50 = 27.33 μg/mL) showed excellent antimalarial effects. All extracts were non-toxic to THP-1 cells | [44] |
| P. glandulosa | In vitro method | Leaves | Two new indolizidine alkaloid, named Δ1,6-juliprosopine and juliprosine were isolated. The structures of these compounds were elucidated using a combination of NMR and MS. | Compound juliprosine showed potent antiplasmodial activity against P. falciparum D6 and W2 strains (IC50 = 170 and 150 ng/mL, respectively), while Δ1,6-juliprosopine was found to be less active (IC50 = 560 and 600 ng/mL). Both compounds were devoid of VERO cells toxicity up to 23,800 ng/mL. When tested against macrophage cultures, the tertiary bases (Δ1,6-juliprosopine, juliprosine) were found to be more potent than quaternary salts, with IC50 values between 0.8 and 1.7 μg/mL and 3.1– 6.0 μg/mL, respectively | [45] |
| P. juliflora | Plasmodium falciparum | Leaf, bark and flower | The filter sterilized ethanol extracts at 100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25 and 3.125 μg/mL doses | Leaf, bark and flower extracts of P. juliflora showed IC50 values >100 μg/mL. Significant antiplasmodial activity was stated between the concentrations and time of exposure. No chemical injury was found in erythrocytes incubated with the ethanolic extract | [27] |
| Antimicrobial | |||||
| P. juliflora | Plasmodium falciparum | MRC-5 cells | Methanol extracted materials screened in vitro against erythrocytic schizonts of intracellular amastigotes of Leishmania infantum and Trypanosoma cruzi and free promastigotes of T. brucei. The criterion for activity was an IC50 <10 μg/mL (<5 μg/mL for T. brucei) and a selectivity index of >4. | Antiplasmodial activity was found to the extracts of P. juliflora | [46] |
| P. juliflora | In vitro method | Leaves | Aqueous, petroleum ether, benzene, chloroform, methanol and ethanol extracts and alkaloid extract studied using poisoned food technique against Alternaria alternata | Aqueous extract recorded significant antifungal activity at 24%. Among different solvent extracts screened, methanol and ethanol extract displayed significantly higher antifungal effects. Methanol extract fractionation leads to the isolation of alkaloid extract with highly significant antifungal activity against the test fungus (minimum inhibitory activity of 1000 ppm). The antifungal activity of alkaloid extract at 2000 ppm or even lower dose was highly effective than the synthetic fungicides. | [34] |
| P. africana | In vitro method | Root and stem | Aqueous and ethanol extract was investigated against various microorganisms (C. albicans, S. mutans and S. saprophyticus) | Ethanol and aqueous extracts of plant parts revealed inhibitory effects on the growth of microorganisms. For both aqueous and ethanol extracts, the inhibitory effect of the stem extract on C. albicans was significantly higher than that exhibited by the root extracts. Ethanol extract exhibited a significant higher inhibitory effect on C. albicans when compared to water extract. The inhibitory effects produced by the aqueous and ethanol extracts on Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus saprophyticus did not differ. The effects produced by the stem and root extracts on S. mutans and S. saprophyticus were not significantly different. | [47] |
| P. farcta | In vitro method | Leaf | Aqueous extract and ethanolic extract for potential antibacterial activity against MRSA isolates | MIC/IBC of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of P. farcta was 100, 125 mg/mL and 25, 112.5. mg/mL respectively | [48] |
| P. juliflora | In vitro method | Leaf | Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized using an aqueous extract | Concentration-dependent activity was shown against E. coli and P. aeruginosa. Most of the studied microorganisms showed sensitivity to methanolic extract (inhibition zone ranging from 12 to 41 mm). The largest inhibition zone was detected against to P. aeruginosa (41 mm) and L. monocytogenes (33 mm) using 100 mg/mL | [28] |
| P. glandulosa | In vitro method | Leaves | Ethanolic extract against 17 microorganisms using disc diffusion method | Ethanolic extract exhibited moderate-to-high inhibitory activity against bacteria and fungi. The maximum inhibitory activity was showed against C. neoformans (30.6 mm), C. albicans (20.0 mm), S. epidermidis (21.8 mm), S. aureus (17.4 mm), Shigella flexneri (19.8 mm), Proteus vulgaris (18.0 mm) and Vibrio parahaemolyticus (15.8 mm) | [49] |
| P. cineraria | In vitro method | Antifungal protein (38.6 kDa) from P. cineraria extract was purified using ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration | Purified protein exerted antifungal activity against post-harvest fruit fungal pathogens Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Aspergillus fumigatus | [50] | |
| P. farcta | In vitro method | Aerial part | Oven dried material was grounded into powder (1.5 kg), soaked in MeOH for 72 h followed by filtration and evaporation. Resulting crude extract was further used for solvent extraction using n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. | n-hexane and methylene chloride extract exhibited moderate antimicrobial activities against Shigella spp., E. coli and Proteus vulgaris for n-hexane and Erwinia spp., E. coli and S. epidermis for methylene chloride. Ethyl acetate displayed higher antimicrobial activities against Shigella spp., E. coli, and C. albicans. Likewise, n-butanol extract showed higher activity against Shigella spp., Erwinia spp., E. coli, P. vulgaris, S. epidermis and C. albicans | [40] |
| P. juliflora | In vitro method | Acetone, chloroform, diethyl ether, methanol, ethanol and DMSO extract of P. juliflora was investigated for their antimicrobial activities. The extracts and the tetracycline as control were tested in vitro against 6 bacterial species and 4 fungal species by well diffusion method. E. coli, B. subtilis, S. marcescens, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus, P. fluorescens, P. tromiformis var. occidentalis, P. foedans, F. oxysporum and P. variotii were used | DMSO extract displayed the better antibacterial activity against E. coli (21 mm), S. marcescens (16 mm), S. aureus (17.9 mm), P. fluorescens (16.5 mm), P. mycesvariotii (13.2 mm) and P. leptostromiformis (11 mm). Methanol extract showed the better activity against B. subtilis (23 mm) and P. foedans (16 mm). Ethanol extract exhibited better activity against K. pneumoniae (11 mm); however, no extract displayed activity against the fungi F. oxysporum | [35] | |
| P. juliflora | In vitro method | Pods | Antimicrobial activity of alkaloid-enriched extracts from P. juliflora pods | Basic chloroformic extract (main constituents were juliprosopine, prosoflorine and juliprosine) exhibited antibacterial activity against Micrococcus luteus (MIC = 25 μg/mL), S. aureus (MIC = 50 μg/mL) and S. mutans (MIC = 50 μg/mL). The extract reduced gas production as efficiently as monensin after 36 h fermentation, revealing positive influence on gas production during ruminal digestion | [36] |
| P. farcta | In vitro method | Pods | Six isolates of Sphingomonas paucimobilis were isolated from 120 hospital workers hands in Erbil city/Iraq by using VITEK2 Compact system, then further confirmed by PCR technique and by detecting specific gene TDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (320bp) for S. paucimobilis ATCC 31,461 and all local isolates. | The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of P. farcta pods extracts against S. paucimobilis isolate (S.p4) was 1000 μg/mL for methanol and ethanol extracts and 1200 μg/mL of watery extract | [51] |
| P. juliflora | In vitro method | Comparative assessment of antibacterial activity of crude extract of P. juliflora with commercially available mouthrinses on oral and periodontal organisms | P. juliflora activity was highest in comparison with the other commercial mouthrinses against selected microbes | [52] | |
| P. juliflora | In vitro method | Seed pods | Methanol extract of P. juliflora at varying doses (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 mg mL) against S. aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus cereus, Shigella sonee, P. aeruginosa and E. coli | P. aeruginosa was the maximum resistant and Micrococcus luteus the less resistant to the extract | [30] |
| P. juliflora | In vitro method | Seed pods | In vitro antibacterial activity of the P. juliflora seed pods extract was screened against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. coli and P. aeruginosa | P. juliflora seed pods extract demonstrated antibacterial activity against all four test organisms. MIC of the extract was 0.312 mg/mL and 0.078 mg/mL, respectively for S. aureus and S. epidermidis, and 1.25 mg/mL for both E. coli and P. aeruginosa | [29] |
| P. kuntzei and P. ruscifolia | In vitro method | Dry extracts, dissolved in DMSO, were tested for inhibition of microbial growth via microplate assay with an oxidation-reduction dye. | P. kuntzei and P. ruscifolia exhibited MIC values ranging from to 0.08–0.5 mg dry matter/mL. All extracts at 2 × MIC were able to inhibit bacterial growth effectively, and were able to reduce the initial number of viable counts (A. balansae, G. decorticans, P. dubium, G. spinosa, P. kuntzei and B. sarmientoi) by at least one order of magnitude in 10 h | [53] | |
| P. cineraria | In vitro method | Aerial parts | Organic extract was prepared via maceration in methanol, followed by the fractionation using hexane and ethyl acetate. | The best antibacterial activities were detected to the ethyl acetate fraction. The effective antibacterial constituents of the plant were two substances with molecular weight of 348 and 184 Dalton (MIC values <125 to 62.5 μg/mL) | [54] |
| P. cineraria | In vitro method | Pods | Chloroform and benzene extracts | The antimicrobial property was examined by disc diffusion assay against three gram-positive (B. subtilis, S. aureus, M. smegmatis) and three gram-negative (P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and E. coli). Chloroform pods extract was found effective against K. pneumoniae while benzene found effective against K. pneumoniae, E. coli and B. subtilis | [55] |
| P. cineraria | In vitro method | The antimicrobial alkaloids, juliflorine, julifloricine and benzene insoluble alkaloidal fraction of P. juliflora, were studied for their therapeutic efficacy after topical application in produced superficial skin infection. Infection was produced by rubbing freshly isolated Staphylococcus aureus from human clinical specimen onto 9 cm2 shaved skin. | Juliflorine was effective on Staphylococcal skin infection. Juliforine at 0.5, 1, and 2.5% were found to heal 25, 50 and 100% lesions in two weeks and microbiological efficacy was found to be 16.66, 33.33, 58.33 and 91.66% with 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 2.5% of juliflorine. Julifloricine was less effective when compared with juliflorine and the benzene insoluble alkaloidal mixture was comparatively more effective than juliflorine. Healing was slightly faster with the mixture. Both juliflorine and the mixture exhibited effectiveness at 2.5% concentration, however these were also found toxic. Gentamicin was found superior to the alkaloids in artificially produced skin infection | [56] | |
| P. juliflora | Crude extracts were with three different solvents and examined for preliminary antibacterial activity | Varying degrees of growth inhibition were shown by all fractions. The highest antibacterial activity was observed for aqueous fractions as compared to solvent fractions. | [32] | ||
| P. cineraria | Human pathogens | Leaf | Characterization of silver (PcAgNPs) and copper nanoparticles (PcCuNPs)was performed using P. cineraria leaf extract synthesized using microwave irradiation | The bioengineered silver and copper nanohybrids showed enhanced antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative MDR human pathogens. | [57] |
| Anthelmintic, Antiprotozoal and Anti-trypanosomal | |||||
| P. juliflora | Haemonchus contortus isolated from naturally infected sheep | Roots and leaves | Roots and leaves of P. juliflora were extracted with ethanol and evaluated for anthelmintic activity according to standard procedures. | In larval mortality assay, all microencapsulated extracts of P. juliflora (leaves and roots) induced over 50% mortality at the highest concentration used (2 mg/mL). Albendazole required a maximum concentration of 0.25 mg/mL to induce 100% larval mortality. There was a significant difference in larval mortality compared to that of egg hatchability. There was a marked difference in mean percentage of adult mortality of H. contortus at different concentrations and ratios. All assays showed dose-dependent response. | [37] |
| P. juliflora | Goat gastrointestinal nematodes | pods | In vitro anthelmintic activity of the alkaloid containing fraction | High ovicidal activity was recorded with IC and IC values at 1.1 and 1.43 mg/mL for alkaloid rich fraction. This fraction also exhibited low larvicidal activity and high toxic effect | [37] |
| P. cineraria | Pheretimaposthuma | Bark | Extract in methanol is prepared and used for screening | Time required for the paralysis and death was recorded. Methanol extract was more potent than petroleum ether and aqueous extracts | [58] |
| P. africana | In vitro method | Leaves, stem bark and roots | Petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol and aqueous extracts, obtained by cold extraction | All solvent extracts showed strong in vitro anti-trypanosomal activity at both 2 and 4 mg/mL | [59] |
| Apoptosis | |||||
| P. juliflora | BCL2 protein using molecular docking approach | Five bioactive compounds, namely 2-pentadecanone; butyl 2-ethylhexyl phthalate; methyl 10-methylheptadecanoate; methyl oleate; and phorbol-12, 13- Dihexanoate were identified using GC-MS analysis | Phorbol-12,13-dihexanoate showed best docking score of −15.644 Kcal/mol, followed by methyl oleate (−13.191 Kcal/mol) | [60] | |
| Antinociceptive | |||||
| P. strombulifera | In vitro J774A.1 macrophage-derived cell line | Fruits | Fruit extract at varying concentrations in different solvent system | Chloroform (100 μg/mL) produced inhibition of LPS-induced NO production, which was not observed with ethanol and ethyl acetate at the same concentration. NO production inhibition by chloroform (10–100 μg/mL) was dose-dependent, (IC50 = 39.8 (34.4–46.1) μg/mL, and chloroform significantly inhibited LPS-induced iNOS expression in J774A.1 cells | [61] |
| Anticancer | |||||
| P. farcta | Cell lines namely; HepG-2, HeLa, PC3 and MCF-7. | Aerial part | Oven dried material was grounded into powder (1.5 kg), soaked in MeOH for 72 h followed by filtration and evaporation. Resulting crude extract was further used for solvent extraction using n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. | n-butanol extract showed the highest activity against MCF-7 cell line (IC50 = 5.6 μg/mL) compared to 5-fluorouracil (IC50 = 5.4 μg/mL), while ethyl acetate showed the highest activity against Hela cell line (IC50 = 6.9 μg/mL) compared to 5-fluorouracil (IC50 = 4.8 μg/mL) | [40] |
| P. cineraria | Breast cancer cells (MCF-7) | Leaf | Characterization of silver (PcAgNPs) and copper nanoparticles (PcCuNPs) was performed using P. cineraria leaf extract synthesized using microwave irradiation | MTT assay results indicated that CuNPs show potential cytotoxic effect followed by AgNPs against MCF-7 cancer cell line. IC50 values were 65.27, 37.02 and 197.3 for PcAgNPs, PcCuNPs and P. cineraria leaf extracts, respectively | [57] |
| Toxicity | |||||
| P. juliflora | Neurons and glial cells | leaves | Total alkaloid extract (TAE) and one alkaloid fraction (F32) at concentrations between 0.3 and 45 μg/mL were tested for 24 h on neuron/glial cell primary cocultures. | 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test revealed that TAE and F32 were cytotoxic to cocultures (IC50 were 31.07 and 7.362 μg/mL, respectively). Exposure to a subtoxic concentration of TAE or F32 (0.3–3 μg/mL) induced vacuolation and disruption of the astrocyte monolayer and neurite network, ultrastructural changes, characterized by formation of double-membrane vacuoles, and mitochondrial damage, associated with changes in β-tubulin III and glial fibrillary acidic protein expression. Microglial proliferation was also observed in cultures exposed to TAE or F32, with increasing levels of OX-42-positive cells | [62] |
| P. juliflora | Spodopteralitura larvae | Seed pod | A significant increase in the total hemocyte count was found. P. juliflora seed pod hexane extract was effective in producing lepidopteran larval mortality may be due to the presence of 9-Octadecyne | [63] | |
| P. juliflora | Neuron/glial cell co-culture | Leaves | A total extract (TAE) of alkaloids and fraction (F32) composed mainly of juliprosopine | TAE (30 μg/mL) and F32 (7.5 μg/mL) reduced ATP levels and led to changes in mitochondrial membrane potential at 12 h exposure. TAE and F32 induced caspase-9 activation, nuclear condensation and neuronal death at 16 h exposure. After 4 h, they induced autophagy characterized by decreases of P62 protein level, increase LC3II expression and increase GFP-LC3 cells number | [64] |
ABTS, 2,2’-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid; DMSO, dymethylsulfoxide; DPPH, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl; IBC, inhibitory bactericidal concentration; IC50, inhibitory concentration providing 50% of inhibition; LPS, lypopolyssacharide; MIC, minimum inhibitory contentration; RSA, radical scavenging activity.