Comparative Phytochemical Profiling and in Vitro Biological Activities of Solvent Extracts of Withania coagulans Leaves
TL;DR
It is demonstrated that solvent selection plays a critical role in determining the phytochemical composition and in vitro biological activities of W. coagulans leaf extracts, and provides a useful foundation for future studies involving quantitative phytochemical characterization, concentration-dependent biological evaluation, mechanistic investigations, in vivo validation, and the development of phytochemical-based nanoformulations to improve bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy.
Abstract
Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal is a medicinal plant widely recognized for its diverse pharmacological properties, particularly its antidiabetic, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities. However, limited comparative information is available regarding the influence of extraction solvent polarity on the phytochemical composition and biological activities of its leaf extracts. Therefore, this study comparatively evaluated the phytochemical profile, antioxidant capacity, 𝛼-amylase inhibitory activity, and antimicrobial potential of W. coagulans leaf extracts prepared using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol, methanol, and distilled water. The biological activities of the extracts were strongly influenced by solvent polarity. Ethanol extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity, whereas methanol and distilled water extracts demonstrated superior 𝛼-amylase inhibitory activity. Antibacterial screening also indicated comparatively greater inhibitory effects for the polar extracts against the tested gram-negative bacterial strains. Qualitative high-performance liquid chromatography profiling further revealed distinct solvent-dependent variations in phytochemical composition, indicating selective enrichment of bioactive constituents according to solvent polarity. The observed differences in biological activity suggest that polar solvents facilitate the extraction of phytochemicals associated with antioxidant and 𝛼-amylase inhibitory properties. Overall, these findings demonstrate that solvent selection plays a critical role in determining the phytochemical composition and in vitro biological activities of W. coagulans leaf extracts. The results provide a useful foundation for future studies involving quantitative phytochemical characterization, concentration-dependent biological evaluation, mechanistic investigations, in vivo validation, and the development of phytochemical-based nanoformulations to improve bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy. Received: 10 June 2026 | Revised: 21 August 2026 | Accepted: 24 August 2026 Conflicts of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work. Data Availability Statement Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Author Contribution Statement Dameya Tariq: Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Hafsa Amjad: Validation, Visualization. Muhammad Fasih Aamir: Conceptualization, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration.
