Unfolding the Pharmacological Potentialities and Phytochemical Characterization of Pajanelia longifolia (Wild)...

Pajanelia longifolia (Willd.) is a traditionally used medicinal plant with limited scientific evidence regarding its phytochemical composition and pharmacological properties. This study aimed to characterize the phytochemical constituents of P. longifolia leaves and to evaluate their antioxidant, hypoglycemic, antidiarrheal, and analgesic potentials using the DPPH radical-scavenging assay, oral glucose tolerance test, castor oil-induced diarrhea, tail immersion, and acetic acid-induced writhing models, respectively. Methanolic leaf extract was subjected to GC-MS/MS analysis for phytochemical profiling. Molecular docking, drug-likeness, pharmacokinetic, and toxicity analyses were performed to explore potential interactions between identified phytochemicals and target proteins. GC-MS/MS analysis identified 76 phytochemical constituents, including γ-sitosterol, squalene, loliolide, and various fatty acid derivatives. Among the tested fractions, the chloroform fraction demonstrated the maximum hypoglycemic and antidiarrheal activities. In contrast, the n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions showed notable central and peripheral analgesic effects, respectively. The aqueous fraction exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity. Molecular docking revealed favorable interactions of several identified compounds, particularly γ-sitosterol and phthalazine derivatives, with human pancreatic α-amylase, M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor, μ-opioid receptor, and cyclooxygenase-2. Drug-likeness, ADMET, and QSAR analyses further supported the pharmacological relevance of selected compounds. The combined findings suggest that the plant is a promising source of bioactive molecules.