Ceropegia woodii: an ornamental plant with immense therapeutic potential

This study investigates the bioactive potential of Ceropegia woodii, by evaluating its antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties. Methanol extracts consistently demonstrated higher bioactivity compared to chloroform extracts. The antioxidant potential, assessed using the DPPH assay, showed maximum activity in methanol leaf extracts (75.8 ± 0.1% at 1 µg mL−1) with an IC50 value of 0.0246 µg mL−1, indicating its potent free radical scavenging activity. Bacillus subtilis, Proteus vulgaris, and Vibrio harveyi were used to investigate the extracts’ antibacterial properties. Methanol tuber extracts exhibited the largest inhibition zones, with 31.7 ± 0.3 mm against B. subtilis at 70 µg mL−1. Antidiabetic properties were evaluated using glucose uptake assays, where methanol tuber extracts achieved a glucose uptake of 55.5 ± 0.0% at 10 mM glucose concentration. α-amylase inhibition assays further demonstrated the potential of these extracts in regulating carbohydrate metabolism, with the methanol flower extract showing the highest inhibition (67.3% at 1 mg mL−1). The MTT assay for the Methanol tuber extract was done for HepG2 liver cancer cells, where a dose-dependent reduction in cell viability was observe,d yielding an IC50 of 0.68%, indicating the anticancer potential of the Methanol tuber extract. Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis identified Dihydroxy Malonic Acid Diisobutyl Ester as the predominant bioactive compound (32.30% in tuber methanol extract), alongside terpenoid, hydrocarbon, and phenolic derivatives, indicating the therapeutic potential of C. woodii