Phytochemical screening of Pomegranate juice, peels, leaves and membranes water extracts and their effect on β- hematin formation, a comparative study

Malaria is a parasitic life-threatening disease that has been causing the death of millions around the globe. The latest World Malaria Report of 2018 stated that in 2017, an estimated 219 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide.1 Moreover, Plasmodium falciparum is the most prevalent malaria parasite mainly in Africa, accounting for 99.7% of estimated malaria cases. Plasmodium vivax however is the predominant parasite in the Americas, representing 74.1% of malaria cases.1 Nowadays, the most widely used synthetic antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine, amodiaquine, artemisinin derivatives and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP), have dramatically lost their efficacy because some strains of P. falciparum have demonstrated high level of resistant.2 Therefore, this has drawn more attention to the urgent need for the development of new novel drugs to treat malaria. During the past ten years, an extensive in-vitro β-hematin inhibition screening on edible food, wild natural plant extracts and/or pure isolates have been engaged in our laboratory.3‒11 The mechanism that links antimalarial effects with the ability to inhibit β-hematin formation has been thoroughly discussed.3‒11 Preparative chromatography and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer (LC-MS) were used to isolate and identify active phytochemicals present in these foods and/or natural herbs. Although encouraging results were achieved, the ability of the above-mentioned tests to predict activity against in-vivo human malaria has not yet been established.