ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Authentication of Ethnoveterinary Important
Grasses Through Microscopic Techniques:
Insights Into the Anatomical and Phytochemical
Analysis of Grasses
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1
Department of Botany, Government College University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
2
Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
3
Department of Botany, Islamia College Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan
4
Biology Laboratory, University Public School, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan
5
International Joint Research Laboratory for Global Change Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University,
Kaifeng 475004, Henan, China
6
Department of Animal Nutrition, The University of Agriculture, 25130 Peshawar, Pakistan
7
Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2023-09-03
Final revision date: 2023-09-30
Acceptance date: 2023-10-02
Online publication date: 2024-01-24
Publication date: 2024-02-28
Corresponding author
Uzma Hanif
Department of Botany, Government College University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(3):2001-2017
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ABSTRACT
Ethnoveterinary medicine is crucial in many rural areas of Pakistan, as residents in remote and
marginal areas rely heavily on traditional herbal medicines to cure their domestic animals. Reactive
oxygen species (ROS) formed spontaneously as by products of reactions with O2 molecules, chemically
damage the organic elements of the cell such as nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. In the current
research work, the anatomical, phytochemical and antioxidant of some ethnoveterinary grasses were
studied. A total of four species were collected from different villages of Hafizabad during the months
of April and May 2021. The collected species were identified as Cenchrus setigerus Vahl, Diplachne
fusca (L.) P. Beauv., Imperata cylinderica (L.) Raeuschel and Sporobolus coromandelianus Kunth.
For the anatomical studies, stems and leaves were cut into thin sections with a microtome. The anatomical
characteristics observed were a compact epidermal layer, large cortical cells, thickened sclerenchyma,
central and scattered vascular bundles, a large metaxylem, a small protoxylem, a pitted phloem,
and a centrally located pith. To investigate the phytochemical and antioxidant potential, the crude
methanol extract was prepared by maceration and subjected to fractionation with n-hexane, petroleum
ether, chloroform, methanol, and water. D. fusca showed strong scavenging activity i.e. 75.87±0.14 of DPPH at 250 μL concentration. The total antioxidant activity evaluated by phosphomolybdenum activity
showed the best results in the methanol fraction of D. fusca. At a concentration of 125 μL, the methanol
extracts showed maximum reducing potential of 1.20±0.06. The methanol extracts of all grasses showed
maximum ferric-reducing antioxidant potential except I. cylinderica, which showed a maximum
potential of 1.77±0.054 TE μM/mL in chloroform extracts. The methanol extract of I. cylinderica had
the highest TPC value of 118.32±1.27 (GAE) mg/mL. This study provides experimental confirmation
that grasses, when consumed, can be used as natural antioxidants and can be used to combat various
diseases caused by reactive oxygen species.