Analyzing the therapeutic significance of Strelitzia reginae banks: Exploring its physico-chemical properties, elemental makeup, and antimicrobial activity

Plants constituting biologically active molecules with curative value have overtime showed advantage as subject of researches. Strelitzia reginae (Bird of Paradise) is a member of the Strelitziaceae family. Several South African tribes used plant parts to treat the venereal diseases and inflamed glands. The study aimed to investigate therapeutic potential of leaf and root extracts of S. reginae by assessing the physico-chemical properties, elemental analysis. Elemental analysis was carried out by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) method, quantitative phytochemical analysis was carried out using, Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The leaf and root of S. reginae were extracted using soxhlet technique of extraction and was further concentrated with a rotary evaporator. Standard protocols assessed the plant’s elemental compounds, physico-chemical properties, qualitative and quantitative phytochemicals, GC-MS analysis, antioxidant activity using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assay, phosphomolybdate assay, ferric reducing power assay (FRAP), metal chelating assay, and antimicrobial potential by well diffusion test. The results of AAS exhibited that the leaf and root contain more calcium and less of cadmium content. Preliminary phytoconstituents showed the presence of medicinally important alkaloids, anthraquinones, tannins, carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, phenols, proteins, and amino acids. The quantitative phytochemical analysis revealed that the leaf has higher total phenolic, flavonoid, chlorophyll, carbohydrates, protein, and proline contents than root. GC-MS analysis verifies the existence of bioactive components like squalene, hexatriacontane, phytol, hexacosane, heptacosane, and octacosane. DPPH, phosphomolybdate assay, FRAP and metal chelating antioxidant analysis revealed excellent activity in leaf and in root sample. As various South African tribes employed plant parts to treat sexual diseases and swollen glands, the antimicrobial property was investigated for the first time using a well-diffusion approach, and both plant parts revealed significant antibacterial and antifungal efficacy against recognized strains. The current study showed S. reginae’s therapeutic potential and asked for more pharmacological and biological research to boost the importance of the world’s unevaluated herbal plants.