Chemical composition’s effect on <i>Solanum nigrum</i> Linn.’s antioxidant capacity and erythrocyte protection: Bioactive components and molecular docking analysis

Abstract

Oxidative stress has been widely believed to be the mechanism responsible for developing diseases such as arthritis, asthma, dementia, and aging. <i>Solanum nigrum</i> Linn. is a common edible medicinal herb that belongs to the family Solanaceae which has more than 180 chemical components that have so far been discovered. The main bioactive components of these are steroidal saponins, alkaloids, phenols, and polysaccharides. This article presents comparative phytochemical profiling including total phenolic, total flavonoid, alkaloid, proanthocyanidins, tannin, and vitamin C contents of three Algerian <i>S. nigrum</i> samples collected from three different locations in the Algerian desert. Additionally, the potential antioxidant activity of the three samples was assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and oxidative hemolysis inhibition assay. Moreover, the correlation between the major phenolic phytoconstituents previously reported and isolated from the plant and antioxidant activity has also been done by <i>in silico</i> molecular docking. Ten bioactive compounds were docked with selected proteins, arachidonate-5-lipoxygenase (PDB: 6n2w) and cytochrome <i>c</i> peroxidase (PDB: 2x08), to check their affinity with binding sites of these proteins for the possible mechanism of action. The docking scores suggest that <i>S. nigrum</i>'s quercetin and kaempferol may play a significant role in its antioxidant action.