Authentication of Ethnoveterinary Important Grasses Through Microscopic Techniques: Insights Into the Anatomical and Phytochemical Analysis of Grasses

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 mu L 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 mu L, 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 mu M/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.