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Abstract

Medicinal plants constitute an important source of bioactive compounds with potential therapeutic applications. This study evaluated the phytochemical composition, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities of methanolic extracts of Cannabis sativa L. and Capparis spinosa L. collected from Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, and tannins in both species, while cardiac glycosides were detected only in C. sativa and steroids were absent in both extracts. Antibacterial assays showed C. sativa had the highest activity against Bacillus subtilis (69%), Staphylococcus aureus (67%) and Escherichia coli (57%), while C. spinosa had the highest activity against S. aureus (61%), B. subtilis (56%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (48%). Both extracts showed antifungal activity and the highest inhibition was observed against Candida albicans (43% and 49% for C. sativa and C. spinosa, respectively). MTT assay showed that C. sativa and C. spinosa inhibited the proliferation of human prostate cancer cells PC3 by 59% and 57%, respectively. DPPH assay for antioxidant evaluation revealed significant free radical scavenging activity with C. sativa (71.04%) higher than C. spinosa (58.89%). These results validate the traditional use of both species in medicine and their potential as sources of natural antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer agents. Additional studies are required to isolate and characterize the bioactive constituents responsible for these pharmacological effects.

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