ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Antibiotic Resistance and New Antimicrobial drugs
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1564787
This article is part of the Research TopicAccelerating Antibiotic Development from Natural Products: Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)View all articles
Exploring the Bioactive Compounds of Carica papaya Leaves: Phytol's Role in Combatting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Provisionally accepted
- 1Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
- 2Department of Microbiology, University of Haripur, Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
- 3Qassim University, Buraidah, Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia
- 4Islamabad Medical and Dental College, Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
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Antibiotic resistance is a pressing global challenge, complicating the treatment of infectious diseases caused by multidrug-resistant microorganism. For centuries, medicinal plants have been a cornerstone of natural remedies, offering bioactive compounds with therapeutic potential. This study investigates the antibacterial efficacy of Carica papaya leaf extract, focusing on its impact against three Gram-negative bacterial pathogens i.e., Escherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori, and Salmonella enterica serotype serovar Typhi. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenols and flavonoids, which are key contributors to the extract's biological activity. GC-MC analysis identified 27 bioactive compounds, with phytol emerging as a prominent constituent, detected at a peak retention time of 18.712 minutes. Antibacterial assays demonstrated significant efficacy, with inhibitory zones ranging from 10 to 20 mm against the tested pathogens. Molecular docking further highlighted phytol's strong binding affinities to crucial bacterial proteins, including DNA gyrase (E. coli), Vacuolating cytotoxin A (H. pylori) from, and Dihydrofolate reductase (Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi). Notably, phytol exhibited the highest binding energy (-6.64 kcal/mol) with DHFR, indicating a robust interaction that underscores its potential as a targeted antibacterial agent against Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. These findings position phytol as a promising lead compound for developing novel antibacterial therapies. Its strong activity against multidrug-resistant pathogens suggests potential for further exploration, though additional research is needed to assess its role in resistance modulation or prevention.
Keywords: antibiotic resistance, Clinical strains, Carica papaya, medicinal plants, molecular docking, Protein-ligand binding, antimicrobial compounds
Received: 22 Jan 2025; Accepted: 21 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Abbas, Farid, Saad, Sabir, Nisa and Sarwar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sidra Abbas, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Fahad Saad, Qassim University, Buraidah, 52571, Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia
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