Exploring Antimalarial and Cytotoxic Activities of <i>Hibiscus cannabinus</i> and <i>Corchorus capsularis</i> Extracts Through In‐Vitro and In‐Silico Approaches

Malaria is an infectious disease, endemic to tropical and sub-tropical regions causing half a million people's deaths every year. Bioactive compounds derived from medicinal plants are used to treat malaria disease and its complications. H. cannabinus and C. capsularis are two edible medicinal plants widely cultivated throughout the state of Assam in India. In this study, in-vitro and in-silico investigations were performed to explore the anti-malarial activity of the plant extracts against Plasmodium falciparum with its validation of hemocompatibility on human RBC. We report H. cannabinus and C. capsularis extracts possess highly potent antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum with IC₅₀ values of 3.80 ± 0.3 and 7.90 ± 0.8 µg/mL, respectively. The plant extracts showed growth inhibition of A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells, no toxicity on non-cancerous Vero cells, and no hemolytic activity on human RBCs. The GC-MS analysis detected bioactive compounds 2-pyrazoline-3-carboxylic acid; 5-hydroxy-1-(4-methyl benzoyl)-5-phen 5-oxo-1-phenyl-4H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid; 9-oximino-2,7-diethoxyfluorene; and nonane-diamide, n, n'-di-benzoyloxy in H. cannabinus; and, (+)-sesamin; tetrahydropyran-4-carboxylic acid, 4-phenyl-, (3-chloro-4-methylphenyl; and safrole in C. capsularis. In in-silico study, antimalarial compounds in the extracts were predicted to have good binding affinities with docking score of <-7.5 kcal/mol on Falcipain-2, and Cytchrome c2 proteins that promotes the growth and invasion of P. falciparum.