Gc-Ms Chemical Profiling, In-Vitro Assessment of Antibacterial and Anticancer Activities Leaf Extracts of Zanthoxylum asiaticum (L.) Appelhans, Groppo &J. Wen (Rutaceae)

Natural-derived chemicals, particularly secondary metabolites from plants, are gaining attention for their potential as innovative and less harmful anticancer treatments, leading to the development of new medicinal drugs and advancing cancer therapy. An ethnomedicinal plant, Zanthoxylum asiaticum (L.)Appelhans, Groppo&J.Wen (Rutaceae), leaf methanol crude extract was analyzed for chemical composition, anti-microbial, and anticancer properties using the GC-MS analysis, agar well diffusion assay, and MTT assay against Hep 3B and MDA MB 231 cancer cell lines, respectively. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by the agar well diffusion method against four pathogens (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas fluorescence, and E. coli).  Gas Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis showed the presence of sixteen compounds in methanol extracts. The most abundant compounds with high area percentages were 4H-Pyran-4-one, 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl (16.13%), Benzeneacetic acid, 4-hydroxy-, methyl ester (10.43%), Diosmetinidine (9.95%) and Dictamnine (9.33%).  Bioassay of the antimicrobial activity showed concentration‐dependent activity against all the tested bacteria with the zone of inhibition ranging from 8‐22.6 mm at various concentrations. The IC50 values of anticancer activities were 586.2 ± 2.77 µg/ml and = 226.9 ± 2.56 μg/mL against the Hep3B and MDAMB231 cell lines respectively, and the highest anticancer activity observed against the MDAMB231 cell line. These findings suggest that the methanol extracts of Z. asiaticum could be a promising source of plant-based anticancer agents and can be used as a source of biologically active compounds with antimitotic, antiproliferative, and antioxidant activities.