Brummit, Peristrophe paniculata (Forssk.) – A Common Tropical Medicinal Herb

Peristrophe paniculata is a traditional medicinal plant with a variety of medicinal applications. Its leaf has long been used to treat eye and ear diseases, bacterial infections, and as an antidote to insect stings and bites. It is a Dicotyledonous plant. Herbs that stand upright, with 6-angular, hispid stems. Leaves simple, opposite, ovate, apex acute, base rounded or truncate. Flowers in axillary trichotomous cymes with pedicels up to 2cm long. The phytochemical analysis using hexane, ethyl acetate and hydroalcoholic extracts revealed the presence of carbohydrates in stem, sterols and carbohydrates in leaves, terpenoids, alkaloids, phenols in root respectively in all extracts. An ethanolic extract of P. paniculata inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli (E. coli), Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus. The leaf and stem extract significantly reduced the radial growth of Colletotrichum capsicum. Hydroalcoholic extracts of P. paniculata stem part have the highest activity when compared to other extracts such as the standard drug rifampicin. Hexane extract was more active against Escherichia coli (E. coli) than ethyl acetate extract for Klebsiella pneumoniae and hydroalcoholic extract for Salmonella typhi. The cold-water extract is the most active because it completely immobilizes the parasites in the shortest time (35min) compared to the other extracts. P. bicalyculata extracts can induce cytotoxicity and cell death in cancer cells. The extracts were able to target cancer cells more selectively than normal cells. Methanolic leaf extract increased antioxidant capacity and prevented neuroinflammation in experimental animals.