Chemical, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Assessment of Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) Seed Extract and in-silico Pharmacokinetic Exploration of the Prominent Compounds

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to characterize, screen antioxidant, antibacterial and in-silico activities of petroleum ether extract of the seeds of Syzygium aromaticum plant using appropriate standard methods. Data obtained reveals the presence of ten compounds which belong to different classes of organic compounds comprising terpenes and terpenoids (50.512 %), methoxyphenol (17.232 %), glycoside (15.426 %), phenol ester (7.806 %), benzoic acid (5.423 %) and hydrocarbon (3.602 %). The extract did not record appreciable antioxidant activity in comparison with vitamin C used as a standard. The antibacterial activity screening against three gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Shigella flexneri) and two gram-positive (Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus epidermidis) bacteria organisms showed that the extract possessed marked antibacterial activity against the test organisms more than the gentamicin used as a standard antibacterial agent. The greatest activity was shown against S. epidermidis while the least activity was shown against E. coli. The presence of high level of terpenes and terpenoids, phenolic compounds and glycoside in the extract may be responsible for the high antibacterial activity demonstrated by the extract thereby giving credence to the use of S. aromaticum seed extract in the treatment of infections in herbal medicine. In silico ADME/pharmacokinetics activity was assessed using SWISSADME online server. The compounds showed good pharmacokinetic properties, such as high blood-brain barrier (BBB), high human gastrointestinal absorption (HIA), oral bioavailability and non-inhibition of cytochromes P450 (CYP). The findings of this study significantly increased the relevance of these compounds as promising first targets for the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria. This may help pharmacologists and other medicinal chemists create and synthesize even more potent drug candidates.