Background: Ayurveda mentions numerous plants, among which Angelica glauca is renowned for its medicinal and aromatic properties. It is native to the Himalayan region and belongs to the Apiaceae family. The plant has been traditionally used as a spice by the indigenous people of the Himalayas and is commonly known as Chora. The plant may have medicinal value, but scientific evidence for this is lacking. So, the aim of this study is to identify the various phytochemicals present in this plant using different analytical techniques and also evaluate the antioxidant potential using in vitro and in silico approach.
Methods: For phytochemical identification different analytical techniques were used such as ultraviolet spectroscopy, FTIR and GC-MS. This showed the presence of various phytochemicals belonging to the phenolic, flavonoid, terpenoid, and phthalide classes, with most of the phytochemicals belonging to the terpenoid and phthalide classes. Further, energy dispersive X-ray and scanning electron microscopy were employed for both quantitative and qualitative elemental analysis.
Results: Phenolic and flavonoid concentrations were revealed that their levels were highest in the ethanolic extract with 101.33 ± 5.36 mg GAE/g DW for phenolic content and 54.53 ± 2.23 mg AAE/g DW for flavonoid content. The hydroethanolic extract was found to possess good antioxidant potential, as measured by its total antioxidant capacity, which was determined to be 11.14 ± 0.12 mg AAE/g DW. Furthermore, an IC50 value of 208.49 µg/mL was determined in DPPH assays. In silico analysis also confirmed the antioxidant potential of the plant, highlighting STAT3, HSP90AA1, and EGFR as the potential genes against oxidative stress.
Conclusion: The primary focus of this study is to identify various phytochemicals present in its roots using a range of analytical techniques, thereby contributing to its phytochemical profiling which will facilitate future research, drug development, and the standardization of herbal formulations derived from this plant.
Chora, essential oil, secondary metabolites, antioxidant activity, In-silico analysis
Acharya, V. Y. T. E. (Ed.). (1972). Charaka Samhita: Chikitsa Sthana (3rd ed.). Nirnaya Sagar Press. (Original work by Agnivesha; revised by Charaka and Drdhabala; with Ayurveda Deepika commentary by Chakrapanidatta).
Alexander, H. J., Rosy, B. A., Blessy, R., Besant, S. A., Sheeja, V. C., & Rani, G. J. (2023). Secondary Metabolite Profiling of Pharmacologically Active Compounds from Sansevieria cylindrica Bojer Ex Hook. Using UV, FTIR And HPLC Analysis. Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results, 14(2), 2540-2547.
Benbassat, N., Yoncheva, K., Hadjimitova, V., Hristova, N., Konstantinov, S., & Lambov, N. (2014). Influence of the extraction solvent on antioxidant activity of Althaea officinalis L. root extracts. Central European Journal of Biology, 9(2), 182-188.
Bisht, A. K., Bhatt, A., Rawal, R. S., & Dhar, U. (2006). Prioritization and conservation of Himalayan medicinal plants: Angelica glauca Edgew. as a case study. Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 4, 11-24.
Butola, J. S., & Vashistha, R. K. (2013). An overview on conservation and utilization of Angelica glauca Edgew. in three Himalayan states of India. Medicinal Plants-International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries, 5(3), 171-178.
Butola, J. S., Vashistha, R. K., Malik, A. R., & Rawat, M. S. (2016). Ethnomedicinal importance of Gandrayan (Angelica glauca Edgew.) in the North-Western part of Indian Himalayan Region. Medicinal Plants-International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries, 8(4), 313-318.
Butola, J. S., Vashistha, R. K., Samant, S. S., & Malik, A. R. (2010). Technology for propagation and cultivation of Angelica glauca Edgew.: a threatened high value Himalayan medicinal cum edible herb. Med. Plant, 2(1), 67-72.
Chaudhary, A., Sharma, U., Vig, A. P., Singh, B., & Arora, S. (2014). Free radical scavenging, antiproliferative activities and profiling of variations in the level of phytochemicals in different parts of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica). Food chemistry, 148, 373-380.
Deliza, H., Ningombam, D., & Maibam, D. (2023). Elemental and phytochemical composition of Pratia begonifolia (Wall.) Lindl. by using GF-AAS, SEM-EDAX, FTIR, GC-MS and HR-LCMS. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology, 16(4), 1556-1560.
Do, Q. D., Angkawijaya, A. E., Tran-Nguyen, P. L., Huynh, L. H., Soetaredjo, F. E., Ismadji, S., & Ju, Y. H. (2014). Effect of extraction solvent on total phenol content, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity of Limnophila aromatica. Journal of food and drug analysis, 22(3), 296-302.
Eghdami, A., Eizadi, M., & Sadeghi, F. (2013). Polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity of hydroalcohlic and alcoholic extract of Thymus vulgaris. Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences, 3(5), 94-101.
Hossini, A. M., Quast, A. S., Plötz, M., Grauel, K., Exner, T., Küchler, J., ... & Zouboulis, C. C. (2016). PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is essential for survival of induced pluripotent stem cells. PloS one, 11(5), e0154770.
Jivakiya, V. (2005). Kashyapa Samhita (Vatsya, Rev.; Ayurvedalankara S. Bhishagacharya, Comm.) (Kalpa Sthanam, Dhupa Kalpa Adhyaya, Shloka 15, p. 17). The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office.
Kumar, P., Rana, V., & Singh, A. N. (2022). Angelica glauca Edgew. – a comprehensive review. Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, 31, 100397.
Lin, L. Z., He, X. G., Lian, L. Z., King, W., & Elliott, J. (1998). Liquid chromatographic–electrospray mass spectrometric study of the phthalides of Angelica sinensis and chemical changes of Z-ligustilide. Journal of Chromatography A, 810(1-2), 71-79.
Mabasa, X. E., Mathomu, L. M., Madala, N. E., Musie, E. M., & Sigidi, M. T. (2021). Molecular spectroscopic (FTIR and UV‐Vis) and hyphenated chromatographic (UHPLC‐qTOF‐MS) analysis and in vitro bioactivities of the Momordica balsamina leaf extract. Biochemistry Research International, 2021(1), 2854217.
Nandiyanto, A. B. D., Oktiani, R., & Ragadhita, R. (2019). How to read and interpret FTIR spectroscope of organic material. Indonesian journal of science and technology, 4(1), 97-118.
Oliveros, J. C. (2007). VENNY. An interactive tool for comparing lists with Venn Diagrams. http://bioinfogp. cnb. csic. es/tools/venny/index. html.
Patle, T. K., Shrivas, K., Kurrey, R., Upadhyay, S., Jangde, R., & Chauhan, R. (2020). Phytochemical screening and determination of phenolics and flavonoids in Dillenia pentagyna using UV–vis and FTIR spectroscopy. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 242, 118717.
Pillai, S. G., Yadav, Y., & Sharma, K. C. (2020). A review on an endangered himalayan medicinal aromatic plant-choraka (Angelica glauca Edgew.). IAMJ, 8, 4509-4515.
Purohit, V. K., Andola, H. C., Haider, S. Z., Tiwari, D., Bahuguna, Y. M., Gairola, K. C., & Arunachalam, K. (2015). Essential oil constituents of Angelica glauca Edgew. roots: An endangered species from Uttarakhand Himalaya (India). National Academy Science Letters, 38, 445-447.
Rawat, J. M., Bhandari, A., Mishra, S., Rawat, B., Dhakad, A. K., Thakur, A., & Chandra, A. (2018). Genetic stability and phytochemical profiling of the in vitro regenerated plants of Angelica glauca Edgew.: an endangered medicinal plant of Himalaya. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC), 135(1), 111-118.
Rohilla, S., Jaiswal, A., Singh, B., & Mahanta, C. L. (2024). Ultrasound-assisted extraction of phytochemicals from Eryngium foetidum leaves using response surface methodology. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 14(23), 29425-29432.
Sakuntala, P., Raju, R. S., & Jaleeli, K. A. (2019). FTIR and energy dispersive X-ray analysis of medicinal plants, Ocimum gratissimum and Ocimum tenuiflorum. Int. J. Sci. Res. Phys. Appl. Sci, 7(3), 6-10.
Santo, E. E., Stroeken, P., Sluis, P. V., Koster, J., Versteeg, R., & Westerhout, E. M. (2013). FOXO3a is a major target of inactivation by PI3K/AKT signaling in aggressive neuroblastoma. Cancer research, 73(7), 2189-2198.
Sharma, N., Kumar, P., Shukla, K. S., & Maheshwari, S. (2023). AGE RAGE pathways: cardiovascular disease and oxidative stress. Drug Research, 73(07), 408-411.
Sharma, P. V., & Guruprasad, S. (1979). Kaiyadeva, Kaiyadeva Nighantu, Aushadhi Varga. Chaukambha Orientatia, Varanasi, 196.
Singh, S., Saksham, Kaith, B., Kumar, R., Bajwa, B., & Kaur, I. (2024). Nanocellulose extracted from wheat straw: facile synthesis, characterization and application as an efficient U (VI) scavenger for groundwater of Bathinda district, SW-Punjab. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 333(6), 3229-3238.
Tan, Y., Cheng, H., Su, C., Chen, P., & Yang, X. (2022). PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway Ameliorates Oxidative Stress-Induced Apoptosis upon Manganese Exposure in PC12 Cells. Biological trace element research, 200(2), 749–760.
Thakur, P., Kumar, R., Choudhary, N., Sharma, R., & Chaudhary, A. (2023). Network pharmacology on mechanistic role of Thymus linearis Benth. against gastrointestinal and neurological diseases. Phytomedicine, 121, 155098.
Thakur, P., Kumari, R., Kumar, A., Bhatia, A., Sharma, U., & Chaudhary, A. (2025). Uncovering the mechanisms of Angelica glauca Edgew. In breast cancer: A combined in vitro and in silico approach. Chemistry & Biodiversity, 22(9), e202402554.
Thi, N. Q. N., An, T. N. T., Nguyen, O. B., Dung, L. T., Minh, L. V., & Nhan, L. T. H. (2020, December). Phytochemical Content and Antioxidant activity in aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Eryngium foetidum L. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 991, No. 1, p. 012026). IOP Publishing.
Trott, O., & Olson, A. J. (2010). AutoDock Vina: improving the speed and accuracy of docking with a new scoring function, efficient optimization, and multithreading. Journal of computational chemistry, 31(2), 455-461.
Vagbhata. (2016). Ashtanga Hridaya with commentary of Sarvangasundara by Arunadatta and Ayurveda Rasayana by Hemadri (Uttara Sthana, Chapter 20, Shloka 4, p. 844). Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan.
Wang, L., Chen, Y., Sternberg, P., & Cai, J. (2008). Essential roles of the PI3 kinase/Akt pathway in regulating Nrf2-dependent antioxidant functions in the RPE. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 49(4), 1671-1678.
Wu, S., Liao, X., Zhu, Z., Huang, R., Chen, M., Huang, A., ... & Ding, Y. (2022). Antioxidant and anti-inflammation effects of dietary phytochemicals: The Nrf2/NF-κB signalling pathway and upstream factors of Nrf2.
Phytochemistry, 204, 113429.
Zengin, G., Sarikurkcu, C., Uyar, P., Aktumsek, A., Uysal, S., Kocak, M. S., & Ceylan, R. (2015). Crepis foetida L. subsp. rhoeadifolia (Bieb.) Celak. as a source of multifunctional agents: Cytotoxic and phytochemical evaluation. Journal of Functional Foods, 17, 698-708.
