PJB-2022-375
Phytochemical composition, heavy metals analysis and cytotoxicity by DNA prevention measurement of crude ethanolic extract of Geranium wallichianum, Elaeagnus parvifolia, and Taraxacum officinale
Fahad Said Khan, Muhammad Akram, Abdul Khaliq, Majid Mahmood Tahir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Abdul Hamid, Naheed Mumtaz and Amir Aftab
Abstract
Heavy metal toxicity has proven to be a major threat and there are several health risks associated with it. The toxic effects of these metals, even though they do not have any biological role, remain present in some or the other form harmful for the human body and its proper functioning. They sometimes act as a pseudo element of the body while at certain times they may even interfere with metabolic processes. Metal toxicity depends upon the absorbed dose, the route of exposure and duration of exposure, i.e. acute or chronic. This can lead to various disorders and can also result in excessive damage due to oxidative stress induced by free radical formation. Contamination of pharmaceutical products or drug formulations with these toxic heavy metals can compromise patient safety and efficacy. Therefore, stringent quality control measures are essential in drug manufacturing to ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
In this study Geranium wallichianum, Elaeagnus parvifolia, and Taraxacum officinale was investigated for heavy metals, cytotoxicity and qualitative phytochemical analysis. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to evaluate heavy metals in ethanolic extract of plants. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of the plant extracts was carried out by using standard test. DNA prevention test was carried out to elaborate the toxicity of selected medicinal plants. Results showed that medicinal plants contain phytochemicals including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, glycosides, steroids, and triterpenoids. All these plants contain contain iron, Zinc, nickel and cobal in limited concentration that are nontoxic for human body and copper, cadmium and Mercury was not found in any plant while lead was found in small quantity only in G. wallichianum. DNA prevention test showed that all selected medicinal plants were nontoxic and showed significant DNA prevention. All these plants are safe for human health and can be used for further investigation for drug development
To Cite this article:
Khan, F.S., M. Akram, A. Khaliq, M.M. Tahir, I. Ahmed, A. Hamid, N. Mumtaz and A. Aftab. 2025. Phytochemical composition, heavy metals analysis and cytotoxicity by DNA prevention measurement of crude ethanolic extract of Geranium wallichianum, Elaeagnus parvifolia, and Taraxacum officinale. Pak. J. Bot., 57(1): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2025-1(16)
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