Multitarget Pharmacological Evaluation of Pouzolzia rugulosa: Phytochemical Characterization, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, Antidiabetic, and Anticancer Activities

Abstract Medicinal herbs are valuable sources of bioactive compounds with diverse therapeutic applications. The genus Pouzolzia is recognized for producing secondary metabolites such as phenolics, flavonoids, and alkaloids, which contribute to various pharmacological properties. However, the biochemical potential of Pouzolzia rugulosa remains largely unexplored. In this study, bark extracts of P. rugulosa were prepared using methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, and hexane and evaluated for their biochemical composition, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities. Antimicrobial efficacy was assessed through minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration analyses. The cytotoxic potential of the ethanol extract was investigated for the first time using MTT and clonogenic assays against HeLa, MCF-7, LNCaP, and A549 cancer cell lines. Among the tested extracts, the ethanol extract exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity, with the lowest IC₅₀ value (4.46 ± 0.91 μg/mL), and demonstrated notable antimicrobial activity, producing an 18 mm inhibition zone against Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella sonnei. It also showed significant cytotoxicity against A549 cells, with an IC₅₀ value of 21.46 ± 0.73 μg/mL. These findings highlight P. rugulosa as a promising source of bioactive compounds with potential pharmaceutical applications and support further in vivo investigations for drug discovery.