Characterization of the bioactive components of Chloris virgata Sw. and assessment of its antimicrobial and anti-arthritic potential

The goals of this study are to characterize the bioactive ingredients present in the formulation of three parts of Chloris virgata Sw. and to assess their antimicrobial and anti-arthritic properties. C. virgata Sw. extracts (methanol, hydro-ethanol, and aqueous) were characterized using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. Antimicrobial activity was measured with the disc diffusion method, and anti-arthritic activity was determined by an in vitro protein denaturation assay. The in-vivo study was performed on methanol extract, and the biochemical and hematological parameters were investigated by Freund’s complete adjuvant model. UV-visible spectroscopy revealed the presence of flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols, alkaloids, and saponins, whereas FTIR results show functional groups like carboxylic acids, alkenes, amides, carbohydrates and proteins, ether, and esters. Methanol and hydroethanol extracts showed higher antimicrobial activity at 400 μg/mL against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Aspergillus niger in comparison to the standards streptomycin and fluconazole at 10 μg/ mL. In-vitro results of the methanol extract clearly show 72.58% inhibition as compared to other extracts. In-vivo anti-arthritic evaluation was performed with methanol extract, and it showed remarkable paw reduction in the treated group on 21st day at a high dose (2.2 ± 0.1) as compared to indomethacin (1.74 ± 0.114). Hematological parameters such as hemoglobin, red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), neutrophils, lymphocytes, and platelets, and biochemical parameters like alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (51.36 ± 9.113 IU/L), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (64.65 ± 10.011 IU/L), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (129.35 ± 13.53 IU/L) were restored to normal in the treated. The findings indicated that C. virgata extracts under UV spectroscopy and FTIR revealed significant bioactive components, which are determined to be significant contributors to their antioxidant and antibacterial properties.