Abstract
Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (Liliaceae), a valuable and critically endangered medicinal herb of northwest India, including Jammu and Kashmir, grows in temperate to alpine regions of the Himalaya. It is known as the traditional herb for cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and metabolic disorders. The plant bulbs are precious and are used to cure many other health complications. The current study analysed the phytoconstituents by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) of different crude extracts (methanolic, petroleum ether, and ethyl acetate) of F. cirrhosa. The LC-MS analysis from the bulbs of F. cirrhosa yielded 88 bioactive compounds, with the vast majority having therapeutic applications. Further, determination of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) by broth microdilution method of F. cirrhosa against tested bacterial and fungal pathogens showed remarkable results with MICs ranging between 6.25-200 µg/mL and 50-400 µg/mL, respectively. Subsequently, these 88 identified phytocompounds were tested for their bioactivity through ADMET prediction by SwissADME and in silico molecular docking studies. Results revealed that Peonidin might have maximum antibacterial and antifungal activity against various microbial protein drug targets among the phytochemical compounds identified. Furthermore, the highest binding affinity complex was subjected to molecular dynamic simulation (MDS) analysis using Desmond Schrodinger v3.8. The root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) graphs obtained through the molecular dynamic simulations indicated the true bonding interactions, further validated using the root-mean-square fluctuation (RMSF) graphs which provided a better understanding of the amino acids present in the proteins responsible for the molecular motions and fluctuations. To our best knowledge, this is the first description of the phytochemical constituents of the bulbs of F.cirrhosa analyzed through LC-MS, which show pharmacological significance. The in silico molecular docking and molecular dynamics study of peonidin was also performed to confirm its broad-spectrum activities based on the binding interactions with the antibacterial and antifungal target proteins. The present study results will create a way for the invention of herbal medicines for several ailments by using F. cirrhosa plants, which may lead to the development of novel drugs.